People living with type 2 diabetes can access a subscription-based, nurse-led remote monitoring service that combines digital innovation, physical consultations and virtual one-to-one support to help them manage their condition more effectively.
Spire Healthcare has partnered with Inhealthcare, a leading provider of remote monitoring technology, to launch Spire Diabetes Care and provide subscribers with ongoing one-to-one care, advice and encouragement from a specialist nurse. It is believed to be the first comprehensive service of its kind in the UK.
Spire Diabetes Care is being piloted at the London Doctors Clinic in London and is initially available to 500 patient
For a monthly fee of just £9.95, patients begin with an in-depth, face-to-face consultation with a diabetes support nurse in London so they can discuss their condition. The nurse reviews the patient’s medical history, gathers baseline readings and gives the patient easy-to-use equipment to monitor blood pressure and weight at home.
After the initial consultation, patients record their readings and mental wellbeing every month via a smartphone app. They receive monthly personalised emails from their nurse to assess their body weight and blood pressure and progress towards their goals, bi-monthly face-to-face or virtual meetings with their nurse to provide further tailored support, twice-yearly blood profiles and urine tests and twice-yearly virtual appointments with a Spire GP.
Any significant changes to health status or medication changes are communicated to the patient’s NHS GP.
Inhealthcare is providing the remote monitoring technology that enables safe and secure communications between patients and healthcare providers via a choice of channels including an app for iOS and Android smartphones and SMS text message. As part of the service, healthcare professionals are able to review the patient information, engage with patients via messaging and behavioural change content and receive alerts about patients who need intervention.
Bryn Sage, chief executive of Inhealthcare, said: “We are delighted to be working with Spire Healthcare to support people living with type 2 diabetes and empower them to make positive, proactive lifestyle changes that help to keep their condition under control.
“An estimated 15 million people in the UK are suffering from chronic conditions including diabetes, COPD, heart disease, and rheumatoid arthritis. We believe this model of care can be scaled up to support people living with other conditions and relieve pressure on NHS services.”
Jo Youster, head of product management at Spire Healthcare, said: “We are thrilled to be partnering with Inhealthcare to help us develop new services to support the management of long-term health conditions.
“By using technology alongside one-to-one consultations, we believe Spire Diabetes Care has the potential to deliver a new, high quality and accessible form of healthcare for people with type 2 diabetes. I look forward to receiving the results of the pilot in 2024.”
According to new figures from charity Diabetes UK, the number of people living with diabetes has topped five million for the first time*. Around 90 per cent of diagnoses are type 2.
* https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about_us/news/number-people-living-diabetes-uk-tops-5-million-first-time#:~:text=Our new figures show type 2 diabetes in the UK.