Pioneering Patient Physio App Piloted At Calderdale Hospital

Calderdale Royal Hospital has become one of the first in England to trial a pioneering new app designed to transform the treatment of patients recovering from knee replacement surgery.

Following an operation, orthopaedic patients are now discharged home on the same day with easy-to-use wearable motion sensors and access to the personalised BPMpathway app platform.

Healthcare company B. Braun Medical Ltd has invested in the intuitive rehabilitation monitoring system, which has been designed to speed up the recovery process at home with the benefits of minimising patients’ exposure to hospital-acquired infections, reducing waiting times and saving the NHS money.

The BPMpathway app enables clinicians to monitor a patient’s recovery with remote access to a range of information about their movement as patients undertake personalised, daily rehabilitation programmes from the comfort of their own home.

Patients follow a series of personalised physiotherapy routines, displayed in graphics and videos, and they can communicate with a doctor through an instant messaging system. They can also report how much discomfort they are in with a ‘pain scale’ and discuss progress at six-week virtual clinic appointment with their consultant.

Graham Walsh, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, said: “We’re extremely proud to be one of the first NHS Trusts in England to adopt this unique app. At Calderdale, we are always looking for ways to do things differently and better for the benefit of our team, but most importantly, our patients.

“Using the BPMpathway, clinicians can tailor a patient’s rehabilitation and recovery programme – measurement tests and exercises – to meet individual needs. By reviewing remotely-gathered secure data, they can assess progress and adjust their rehabilitation schedule.

“It’s simple to use, highly intuitive and patient centric with realistic targets and exercises, and removes the need for unnecessary hospital visits when patients are recovering well at home.

“It alerts clinicians when patients have failed to meet recovery targets so they can intervene and prevent potential complications and re-admission.

“The new app will not only speed up the patients’ recovery time and reduce waiting lists, but it will also save money. The app enables patients to reduce their stay in hospital for several days and they don’t require multiple physio appointments.”

Jacqui Potter is one of the first patients to test the device following knee surgery at Calderdale Hospital.

Jacqui said: “The sensor kept me motivated each day to do my exercises, it’s easy to download via the App Store on my iPhone, and having the sensor made me do my exercises daily because I knew the physios were watching me. It was very easy to attach and use unattended”.

It is hoped the increased patient engagement in their own recovery will result in better outcomes and the data collected could lead to new insights and improved rehabilitation advice.

David Oates, Group Managing Director of the B. Braun companies in the UK, said: “We believe in improving people’s health through everything we do, and we are passionate about developing world-leading medical devices, products and services.

“Joints heal under load and in motion which is why regular physiotherapy is a key factor in rehabilitation from knee replacement surgery and one of the main reasons we have invested in the development of this unique new system.

“It’s an incredibly exciting new product which benefits both clinicians and patients in equal measure.

“We are improving the patient experience, reducing the potential for hospital-acquired infections and freeing up beds. Following the pilot, this concept could become more widespread and applied across other specialities within the NHS.”