Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 March 2023 to Question 157671 on Patients: Digital Technology, if he will set out for which patient cohorts that the use of wearables is being piloted; and what data is being tracked for this purpose, including any further information about these pilot initiatives.

The information requested is not held centrally. Examples of pilots and patient cohorts include the NHS’s Digital Health Partnership Award has supported two wearables-based projects that remain in progress. Northumbria NHS Foundation Trust is trialling the use of smartwatch data via the Fitbit device, through the Digitally Enhanced Rehabilitation in Cardiac Patients programme, in conjunction with Connected Life and Google Health, to improve rehabilitation services for those who have had a heart attack or heart surgery.

The National Health Service in Plymouth is leading work using the Parkinson’s Kinetograph wearable, which is worn for six days to monitor patient’s movements at home. This information enables clinicians to look for signs that medicines need changing or that other interventions such as physiotherapy are required.