Supporting remote monitoring in an outpatient setting

We are supporting three rheumatology departments across south east London (SEL) to trial a new service that supports patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) to remotely monitor their condition. The service aims to help people access the care they need, when they most need it, rather than rely on routine appointments.

Starting in 2019, we brought together colleagues from Guy’s and St Thomas’ (GSTT), Kings College Hospital (KCH), Lewisham and Greenwich (L&G) and the SEL Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) with the aim to improve outpatient experiences for a cohort of patients with long-term conditions. With agreement from the group, rheumatology was chosen as our focus area.

Drawing on a remote monitoring pilot at GSTT, we brought together a large, multidisciplinary group of clinical and non-clinical colleagues to assess how this approach could be tested at a South East London scale.

Over the next year, the HIN will lead a formative evaluation capturing patient and staff views on this service, the impact on operational metrics and broader information about digital transformation at a ‘pan-trust’ scale. This will help iterate and improve the service and inform future decisions about this type of model for rheumatology and other conditions.

Outpatient services were in high demand pre-Covid-19, but now there is even greater need to ensure we explore technological solutions to support recovery.