During the current outbreak of COVID-19, many of our community members are continuing to adapt and innovate with Flo to enable sustainable provision of high quality care to their patients under difficult circumstances. To support our Members, we recently held our first in a series of Forum Calls. The calls are being facilitated to provide technology-enabled care leads from the Community of Practice with the opportunity to share how Flo is being utilised during the COVID-19 outbreak within their organisations.
Read on to find out more about the ideas shared & discussed on the first of these calls.
Symptom Based COVID-19 Monitoring Protocol
Based on new learning around the recovery period for COVID-19, NHS Scotland are taking a lead to develop a multi-symptom monitoring pathway with Flo to support those with a diagnosis of COVID-19. The aim of implementing more specific monitoring of a wider set of symptoms is to enable early detection of any deterioration of the patient’s condition, thus ensuring timely and appropriate medical intervention when required.
In support of government guidance, the pathway monitors patient’s symptoms for a period of two weeks, and Flo will ask daily questions around a wider set of symptoms, including breathlessness while talking and during activity plus the presence of a cough and muscle aches/pain. Patients also have the option to take their temperature, O2 & pulse readings if clinically significant. Flo interacts by providing clear advice and reassurance, where a patient’s symptoms or readings are of concern, Flo will flag an alert on the patient’s record, and advise them to contact 111 for further medical advice.
Staff Emotional Wellbeing
Providing additional help to those working under even greater pressure at this time is vital in ensuring that the health of frontline staff is not overlooked. As a result, a number of community members have expressed an interest in developing pathways that support staff emotional wellbeing during what is a both psychologically, and physically tiring time.
Suggestions as to how this support will be delivered include requesting wellbeing scores, providing wellbeing support messages, and signposting to services open to staff, such as occupational therapy. Flo’s unique ability to interact remotely with staff members also creates an opportunity to understand when, and which staff may need further support and either direct staff to step-up interventions or notify their Line Manager to facilitate personal intervention.
| Increased Interest in, and Uptake of Remote Monitoring with FloA number of TEC leads commented on seeing a general increase in queries received around implementing Flo in various areas of clinical practice. Due to social distancing measures, reducing clinical contact is imperative, with only the most essential face-to-face appointments going ahead. As a result, many teams who may have been previously aware of Flo, but not actively implementing her, are now looking to develop new pathways to enable patients to monitor safely at home and receive additional advice and motivation as needed. Examples of increased interest in implementation include pregnancy induced hypertension, sexual health, respiratory and mental health. |
Next Steps
As the situation with COVID-19 changes daily, our community members are continuing to move forward and adapt their plans with Flo. To support implementation through shared learning, we will be continuing to host COVID-19 Forum Calls, with the next planned session in the first week of June.
