The UK government has shared a prediction that remote monitoring will soon free up half a million appointments per year, offering insights into pilot programmes across the country, including a government-funded trial led by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield to test the benefits of remote monitoring for motor neurone patients.
Projects like this will help inform the “wider expansion” of remote monitoring for long-term conditions, as set out by the government’s Elective Reform Plan, it states. “Once in full flow, remote monitoring is expected to free up around 500,000 appointments every year, so patients can be seen by specialists faster.”
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals and the University of Sheffield will be exploring the benefits of remotely monitoring and adjusting portable ventilators used by patients with motor neurone disease (MND) across 12 areas of England. “Respiratory therapy via non-invasive ventilation is currently the only treatment proven to extend life and improve quality of life in MND whilst also alleviating symptoms of breathing problems,” the University shares. “The new trial seeks to build the evidence needed to expand access to this life-changing technology for the 5,000 people living with MND across the UK.”
Sally Hughes, director of services and partnerships at the MND Association, highlighted the “crucial” nature of regular monitoring and timely intervention for those using non-invasive ventilation, adding: “Increased support and digital monitoring will make it easier for people with MND to choose to receive expert care from the comfort of their own homes – reducing the burden of travel and helping them live better for longer.”
Elsewhere, Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is to introduce digital pre-appointment questionnaires through the NHS App for patients with suspected respiratory conditions to give clinicians more information ahead of appointments and reduce “clinically unnecessary” follow-ups. In Leeds, patients previously treated for prostate cancer will be able to use the NHS App to provide updates on their health to be reviewed by specialists, to book appointments, and to communicate with clinicians.
Wider trend: remote monitoring and virtual care
NHS England has announced plans for an “online hospital” to go live in 2027, with an aim to deliver up to “8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years”. The service, NHS Online, will aim to connect patients virtually to clinicians based anywhere in England, with triage to be completed through the NHS App, and appointments for scans then offered at local community diagnostic centres.
Medway NHS Foundation Trust has outlined a business case for a full virtual hospital with 260 virtual beds, aiming to free-up 91 inpatient beds, close of up to three wards, and position MFT as “a leading site for ICS-wide scaling of digitally enabled acute care”. The virtual hospital will run as a fully governed clinical service, MFT highlights, offering daily virtual ward rounds with a multidisciplinary clinical team, remote monitoring, escalation protocols for patients needing in-person review or hospital transfer, and in-person visits where required.
Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB has shared impacts from remote technologies including an app to recognise pain in care home residents, a remote monitoring toolkit, and a digital tool using wireless sensors to measure gait and mobility in people at risk of falls. The ICB’s Digitising Social Care programme has seen the introduction of over 1,200 PainChek™ licences across 26 care locations as part of a study set to run to March 2026.
