Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust has provided £6,767 for the purchase of equipment aimed at monitoring vulnerable patients.

The 10 Sensorcare Systems will be used by staff at Noble’s Hospital to monitor patients with cognitive impairment, which causes confusion, and a tendency to wander.

If they are not watched over carefully this can lead to them having falls.

Elaine Hayes, a falls and fragility fracture nurse based at the Day Assessment and Treatment Unit at Noble’s, explained how the Sensorcare System works.

She said: ’It has a pressure pad which sets off an alarm when the pressure is reduced, indicating that the patient is trying to stand.

’The system cannot be tampered with by the patient and there is no additional risk placed on the patient.’

Alarms

Each system has a larger pressure pad for use underneath the patient’s mattress and a smaller one which can be used on an adjacent chair.

The two pads are connected so that if the patient moves from the chair the alarms goes off but if they then get straight into bed the alarm stops.

The 10 Sensorcare Systems, along with another four previously bought by the Department of Health and Social Care, can be used on any of the wards in the hospital where a member of staff is able to respond in a timely manner whenever the alarm is set off.

Chairman of the Henry Bloom Noble Healthcare Trust, Terry Groves, said: ’We are pleased to assist in the purchase of these seemingly simple but immensely practical and valuable pieces of equipment.

’How they will help frail and fragile patients, as Elaine says, can only be of benefit to the patients and the staff looking after them.’