An artificial intelligence tool (AI) that predicts a patient’s risk of falls is being rolled out nationally by the NHS to increase efficiency and reduce hospital admissions.
The tool, developed by health tech provider Cera, is now being used in two million patient home care visits a month, across two thirds of integrated care systems. It monitors vital health signs to predict signs of deterioration and alerts healthcare staff so they can intervene and reduce the risk of hospitalisation.
NHS England hopes the tool will prevent around 2,000 falls and hospital admissions each day.
Falls are currently the largest cause of emergency hospital admissions, with around 30% of those above 65 years of age and half of those over 80 experiencing a fall at least once a year, according to NHS England.
The tool is also set to be used to detect the symptoms of illnesses such as Covid-19, flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and norovirus, with the aim of reducing hospital admissions for these conditions.
Dr Vin Diwakar, national director of transformation at NHS England said: ‘This new tool now being used across the country shows how the NHS is harnessing the latest technology, including AI, to not only improve the care patients receive but also to boost efficiency across the NHS by cutting unnecessary admissions and freeing up beds ahead of next winter, helping hospitals to mitigate typical seasonal pressures.
‘We know falls are the leading cause of hospital admissions in older people, causing untold suffering, affecting millions each year and costing the NHS around £2bn, so this new software has the potential to be a real game-changer in the way we can predict, prevent and treat people in the community.’
Responding to the news, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, welcomed the rollout but warned that technology should be ‘robustly evaluated’ when used for patient care.
He said: ‘The rollout of this new artificial intelligence tool is a very welcome move that can reduce falls and hospital admissions – so both preventing harm to patients and saving money. It is yet another example of the exciting opportunities that AI offers the healthcare sector.
‘But with many innovative uses of AI rapidly developing, it’s important that while we keep an open mind to these opportunities we also adhere to frameworks and guidance to ensure any use of technology is robustly evaluated for patient care, level of productivity and overall impact on the NHS.
‘There is a lot of untapped potential but much of it is not fully understood. We need to make sure we are using tools that solve genuine problems NHS organisations or staff are facing.‘
Investment in these technologies is ‘crucial‘ to supporting ‘the Government’s ambitions of moving from an analogue system to one that is fully digitised’, he added, emphasising that ’the NHS needs to be supported to improve the digital infrastructure that underpins the latest technologies’.
Last year, the NHS began using AI to identify patients likely to become frequent users of emergency departments across England so it can be proactive about their care and reduce demand on these services.
The Government set out a new AI action plan earlier this year, to try and help the public sector spend less time on admin and more on delivering services. While health secretary Wes Streeting has previously said that shifting from analogue to digital is the priority within this parliament.
A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication Healthcare Leader.
