Patients are seizing greater control of their health by becoming Champions in our new Supported Self-Care project.

This year, Bristol Community Health has been working in partnership with Philips Healthcare on an innovative Supported Self-Care project. The objective of the project is to build evidence for a programme of long term condition management on a large scale, using different types of health technology. It is sponsored by the West of England Academic Health Sciences Network (WEAHSN).

Our champion project focuses on the long term condition population of one GP practice in Bristol – the Lennard Surgery in Bedminster Down – with the aim of expanding it across Bristol if successful.

Patient Champions monitor their own vital signs and manage their health needs at home using a package of technology, education and support from clinicians. The project aims to increase patients’ confidence in managing their own healthcare and keep them independent for longer. It also highlights more complex patients, who require intensive monitoring and regular support, to prevent their conditions becoming worse.

 

Heart failure patient Gordon Hennessy was daunted by the technology at first but now loves it. “I’ve found it very reassuring. My community nurse is at the end of the phone, and my doctor’s at the end of the phone. This scheme gives you confidence. If there’s anything wrong you will pick it up; my doctor will pick it up.”

“It certainly helps me, and I think it would help other people.”

Hanna Eklind, one of our Community Matrons, explains, “All patients self-care to some extent, and supported self-care is all about supporting them to do that better; giving them the tools and support to help them manage their health and wellbeing.”

Partnership working
The West of England Academic Health Science Network is supporting our project, and we’re working in partnership with Philips Healthcare and The Lennard Surgery, a GP practice in Bedminster Down.

We’re now expanding this work to include more education and support for patients, as well as tailoring the levels of monitoring, depending on what patients need. The project will also look at the possibility of extending the scheme to patients across the whole city.