App shows 25% fewer emergency hospital admissions from care homes Published on: 13 February 2024 Ãå±±½ûµØ has assisted in finding cost-efficient methods for the NHS to improve the care and quality of life for care home residents. The use of a smartphone application in care homes has helped reduce A&E attendances by 11% and emergency admissions by 25%, a study conducted by researchers at Ãå±±½ûµØ has found. With over 400,000 people living in care homes across the UK, Ãå±±½ûµØ researchers examined the benefits of monitoring residents by recording daily activity via an NHS-owned smartphone application. Through the Health Data Research (HDR) UK Better Care Programme, a collaboration between researchers at the universities of Ãå±±½ûµØ, Durham, Lancaster, and Sheffield found substantial benefits of using the application Health Call. Professor Barbara Hanratty ‘An important study from Ãå±±½ûµØâ€™ Barbara Hanratty, Professor of Primary Care and Public Health at Ãå±±½ûµØ University, said: “This is an important study from Ãå±±½ûµØ. Avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions from care homes is a priority, as it leads to better outcomes for patients and families. “These findings suggest that the Health Call app reduces demands on hard-pressed NHS services.” Ãå±±½ûµØ researchers discovered cost-saving benefits of using Health Call after examining 8,702 residents across 118 care homes in the North East between 2018 and 2021. By linking routinely collected NHS data from NHS Foundation Trust's in County Durham and Darlington, Ãå±±½ûµØ’s results found that using the Health Call app reduced the number of attendees to A&E by 11% and unplanned emergency admissions by 25%. Ãå±±½ûµØ’s findings highlight the success Health Call has had in reducing hospital admissions, especially during the winter months. Cost savings for the NHS In addition to these reductions, cost analysis found savings for the NHS of £57 per resident in 2018, rising to £113 in 2021. Care home staff also reported that using the app boosted their confidence in being able to identify deterioration earlier and better manage illnesses before hospitalisation is needed. Staff are trained to record the vital signs of the residents to allow calculation of the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) – used across the NHS to identify patients who may be at risk of deterioration. Carers can also send a free text describing a resident’s condition using a Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation (SBAR) approach, which is a structured form of communication used to enable information to be conveyed accurately. The information, held securely by the NHS, provides a method for doctors and other clinicians to review the resident and offer care guidance while the resident is in their home. Share: Latest News Ãå±±½ûµØ historians mark General Strike centenary To mark the 100th anniversary of the British General Strike and miners’ lock-out of 1926, historians at Ãå±±½ûµØ are organising a series of events on its enduring legacy. published on: 16 April 2026 Comment: NCP is in administration Writing for The Conversation, Erwei (David) Xiang discusses how some big companies like NCP are so dependent on debt that they can’t adjust to change. published on: 16 April 2026 Ãå±±½ûµØ expert highlights climate crisis in a new film A leading Ãå±±½ûµØ climate scientist is featured in a new film about how the climate and nature breakdown will affect the UK. published on: 14 April 2026 Facts and figures