Spirit Digital has launched a COVID-19 remote monitoring capability for the management of symptomatic patients in primary and community care settings.

The new function will work within the firm’s remote monitoring platform CliniTouch Vie and will enable CCGs and clinical teams across the UK to provide continuity of care for symptomatic COVID-19 patients after being discharged from hospital, as well as those with mild to moderate oxygen desaturation levels that do not require hospitalisation.

The digital platform also provides early warning signs of potential deterioration, allowing clinical teams to appropriately intervene, be that through continued care safely at home or to facilitate an early hospital assessment if there are concerning features indicating deterioration.

Using a computer, tablet or smartphone, CliniTouch Vie enables patients at home to regularly complete specific COVID-19 question sets and take vital signs readings, including oxygen saturation levels. Clinical calculations automatically generate a Red/Amber/Green risk rating which is presented in real-time to that patient’s clinician.

Simon Applebaum, managing director of Spirit Digital, said: “As our battle against COVID-19 continues, it is vital that we provide as much support as possible to both our frontline workers and vulnerable patients.

“We are proud to be part of the solution in maximising clinical capacity while helping to provide continuity of care for those who need it most.”

University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) and the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust (LPT) were the first healthcare providers to pilot this new system.

UHL has since referred its first 26 patients to LPT’s respiratory team for remote monitoring over a two-week period, six of whom have been discharged, with the LPT team already using CliniTouch Vie for the remote monitoring of vulnerable patients with heart failure and non-COVID related respiratory conditions.

Sudip Ghosh, an associate medical director for LPT, said: “The pandemic has highlighted the greatest need for us to work with our patients in novel and innovative ways.

“This virtual COVID ward is an extension of our current urgent respiratory services to help build capacity and flow through our system. LPT is proud to play its part in emerging solutions for our health economy.”