A new system, which uses wifi to help to monitor patients, has been unveiled at Ramsey’s Cottage Hospital.

The introduction of the EarlySense system, developed in the Netherlands with Vannin Health Care, is thought to be first time it has been installed in the British Isles.

The system operates using a series of pressure pads, which are placed in a patient’s bed and chair, removing the need for doctors and nurses to disturb patients, particularly at night to monitor them.

While this system is widely used in the USA and elsewhere in Europe, this is the first such system in any hospital in the British Isles and represents the largest number of combined bed and chair sensors in one entire hospital in the world. It can monitor their heart rate, respiratory rate and body movements directly from the bedside and updates screens positioned at the nursing station while a pager system alerts nurses to any sudden changes.

By monitoring movements, it can also detect if a patient already at risk of falling is moving out of a chair or their bed, reducing the risk of them suffering injuries while in hospital.

The system can also detect if a patient is at risk of developing bed sores and could prove a life saver as it can also detect the early stages of sepsis and cardiac problems.

The installation of EarlySense was made possible by a donation of £268,000 from the Ramsey League of Friends.

The chairman of the RLF, former MHK Leonard Singer, said: ’The 24-hour non-contact patient monitoring system provides the highest level of safety and protection for the patient, the greatest support for the clinicians and nursing staff and brings confidence for the friends and relatives of the patients knowing that there is early detection of developing medical conditions ensuring early treatment.’

Mr Singer also praised the EarlySense system for its Manx origins. While much of the work was carried out in the Netherlands, it owes a significant amount of gratitude to Manx company Vannin Healthcare.

Peter van Veen, chief executive of Vannin Healthcare, said: ’As a Manx company we are proud to have installed this immense "world’s first" healthcare addition to the Ramsey Cottage Hospital.

’I am highly impressed the way the staff have fully embraced the EarlySense system which has really put the Isle of Man on the global healthcare map.’