Patients undergoing robotic knee surgery at Colchester Hospital, part of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, are now being offered additional support through a specialist phone app.
Medical technology company Smith+Nephew partnered with digital health experts Huma in order to create the app, with the aim of tailoring it for ESNEFT patients.
It provides patients with educational content and virtual rehabilitation guidance in multimedia format, such as video guidance from consultants and information on what to expect after the surgery. Patients can also input information into the app such as their own pain and function scores, and connect to the app from their smartphones or watches to link in daily activity in order to provide clinicians with real-time information on their condition.
Consultant Tim Parratt said that the app is a useful way to help patients to become more involved in their care journey.
Consultant Mabs Alam commented: “We know most patients like to have as much information as possible, so being able to take a tour of the surgical space and additional information about what they’ll experience afterwards is very important.
“Having the added benefit of gathering essential data from patients will also be valuable in how we manage patients in the future. Although we have a follow-up appointment with a patient six months after surgery, it will be fascinating to find out how they continue to adapt to their new knee after they’ve been discharged from our care.”
Si Tarry, Managing Director for Smith+Nephew in the UK, Ireland and Nordics, added: “We are proud to partner with the team at ESNEFT around innovative technologies, both in the operating room through CORI surgical robotics, and in supporting patients before and after surgery with the Huma remote patient monitoring platform. Making more possible for the NHS, NHS staff and patients through innovation and data information is key to the success of NHS and industry collaboration.”
