£1.8m for scheme to improve hospital experience

Researchers from Portsmouth and Oxford have won £1.8m to develop a system which recognises when hospital patients' health deteriorates.

It will take into consideration blood test results or previous medical history identify those at risk.

Early warning signs that a patient is deteriorating currently rely on nurses recognising 'out of range' values for the vital signs, including blood pressure, heart rate and temperature, all of which are measured regularly on the wards.

Dr Jim Briggs, at the University of Portsmouth's Centre for Healthcare Modelling and Informatics, is part of the team developing the new system.

He said: "It is important that the information already collected in hospital information systems is used to maximum advantage to the patient. The project will extend the range of information that can be used to monitor deteriorating patients, which will have a significant impact on patient safety."