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Nurses hail potentially lifesaving heart patient app

Patients with heart failure are trialling a new app which alerts nurses if patients are at risk

Nurses working with heart patients have hailed a new app which monitors the patients' condition and alerts the nurses to any risks.

A total of 25 patients who experienced heart failure are trialling the app at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Trust in London.

The patients will take daily readings of their weight, heart rate, blood pressure and blood oxygen levels through equipment, including scales and a blood pressure cuff, supplied to them.

The data is collected wirelessly via Bluetooth and the app on the patient's phone stores it in BT’s telehealth service.

Nurses can then access and analyse the data at any time, but if an abnormal result is detected, the same app on the nurse's phone instantly alerts them so they can take immediate action.

Guy’s heart failure clinical nurse specialist Martin Larner said the app provides 'a constant reminder to our patients that they need to change their lifestyle and take control of their health so their condition doesn’t worsen.

‘In this way we hope to stop patients from reaching crisis point and being admitted to hospital or visiting their GP.’

Around 900,000 people in the UK have heart failure and 30-40% of heart failure patients die within the first year of diagnosis.