West Midlands 5G’s Health and Social Care Lead, Adrian Smith, has been featured in the latest issue of The Carer magazine, discussing how 5G will help to transform social care provision and improve patient safety.
While care homes brace for the impact of the third national lockdown amid the latest surge in Coronavirus cases, the need to safeguard and provide effective healthcare to vulnerable care home residents remains a priority. Balancing the requirements of residents with high support needs while mitigating the risk of Covid-19 has been a challenge which has required rapid changes to our ways of working.
5G’s enhanced connectivity capabilities hold the power to unlock Internet of Things (IoT) devices and tools that will allow staff and resources to stretch further, and for quality of care to improve. Of course, it can also help to reduce social isolation and allow residents to stay in touch with their loved ones.
In a trial by WM5G, five care homes have been able to receive full GP consultations and assessments remotely. Through connected diagnostics tools GPs are able to view and record clinical information and check residents’ vital signs remotely in the same way as they would face to face. So far the technology has helped safeguard patients during the pandemic while improving access to GPs and opens the possibility of remote ward rounds.