Using Technology to Aid Community Palliative Care
We are delighted to share that we have developed, launched and are rolling out the Comfort Tracker App.
This is an app for adults in the last 12 months of life – to help them and their loved ones keep an eye on any symptoms they have and offer advice and tips on how to self-manage where this is possible and when to call if not.
There was an article in the Saturday Telegraph (11 April 2026) talking about the team in Sussex who developed it, how it is being used, and what patients and carers think so far.
Context
As everyone is aware, NHS staffing levels are already stretched. Finding ways for patients, their loved ones, and the NHS to work together to improve patients’ lives, in spite of this stretch, are central to planning future development of services for patients.
Using Technology to Aid Community Palliative Care
This piece of work began with a focus group to help shape the survey questions. The survey opened on the 1 August and closed on 17 September 2024, and 56 people completed the survey, and we held a subsequent follow up focus group.
DOCCLA provide comprehensive Virtual Health Services for patients with all levels of illness – from those who are managing at home and need occasional monitoring, through to those being monitored daily and are ‘hospital at home’ patients (also known as Virtual Ward patients).
The Comfort Tracker App integrates remote monitoring of the patient (where the patient inputs information into the app at home); the clinicians look on a central dashboard to assess when advice is needed, and the app offers useful information links for the patient.
All these enable improved clinical support at home.
Reports
Our reports to date detail the predevelopment findings, download available below.
