First Use Case installed at Liverpool Care Home

The first care home use case has been installed by Liverpool 5G, with Vitalerter devices fitted at Breckside Park Residential Home.

Breckside park is a care home providing personal care for older people, situated in a residential area of Anfield, Liverpool.  As part of the Liverpool 5G Create: Connecting Health and Social Care project, which will be providing the care home with free 5G connectivity to improve health and social care, the team have installed Vitalerter devices, to reduce falls in residents.

One of the most common times for a resident to fall is when they are getting out of bed. Vitalerter is a sensor that goes under a care home bed, and monitors the vital signs of the resident. Using AI, it learns the movement pattern of the resident before they get up in the morning, then notifies staff when the resident is about to get out of bed, so the staff can assist where required, reducing the number of falls. The movement-detecting sensor also notifies care providers when those at risk of pressure sores may need help in turning over, or where residents have already turned and so don’t need to be disturbed.

Older people living in care homes are three times more likely to fall than those living in the community, and 40% of hospital admissions from care homes follow a fall. Vitalerter has been proven to reduce falls, pressure ulcers, and prevent critical events and consequently costly hospitalizations and treatments.

The project team will be monitoring the reduction in falls to track how providing free connectivity for the purpose of health and social care can improve care for residents and reduce costs to health and care providers.