London, December 2024: Leading virtual care technology provider Feebris is excited to announce the launch of the Heart Failure @ Home service in Northern Ireland. The project, run in collaboration with BT, UK market leader for fixed/mobile telecoms products and digital health services, Queen’s University Belfast and the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust, where the service is being provided, is enabling patients with complex conditions to access remote care safely and efficiently from the comfort of their own homes and places of residence.

As an integrated organisation delivering acute hospital and community health and social care services, the SE Trust is supporting a population of 350,000 people in Ards, North Down, Down and Lisburn. By introducing the virtual care technology, the Trust aims to improve quality of life for patients and accessibility of services, while also creating additional capacity and reducing avoidable Emergency Department visits and hospital admissions. An independent health economic evaluation conducted by the York Health Economics Consortium found the use of the Feebris platform over a 12-month period led to a 38% reduction in conveyances to the ED and 25% reduction in hospital admissions, with £500,000 saved for every 1,000 patients.

For this project, Queen’s University Belfast will be conducting the health economic evaluation, providing insights into the impact of the service. Initially, the project will focus on reducing frequent admissions for patients at risk of deconditioning, empowering them to maintain independence for longer and reducing escalating healthcare needs. In the first phase, the Trust will specifically look to support patients with congestive heart failure and co-morbidities.

Clare Marie Dickson, Lead Director for Quality Improvement and Innovation and Director of Primary Care and Older People at the SE Trust, said:

“We are absolutely delighted to be working in partnership with BT, Feebris & Queen’s University Belfast as we launch our new Heart Failure @ Home service, closely aligned to our Think Home First approach. The use of leading-edge remote technology, married with clinical expertise, has the potential to be life-changing for patients living with complex conditions. The project aims to empower them by offering proactive treatment in a timely manner, reducing emergency visits to hospital and ultimately improving quality of life. Additionally, the potential for scale and spread is hugely exciting for other patients living with long-term conditions.”

Dr Elina Naydenova, CEO and Co-Founder of Feebris, added:

“We are proud to be working with the team at the SE Trust, Queen’s University Belfast and our partners at BT to launch the Heart Failure @ Home project in Northern Ireland. By supporting patients to manage complex conditions at home, we are helping to streamline access to services and alleviate pressure on healthcare systems adapting to growing and changing demand. We look forward to building on the initial phase of the project and expanding the support to additional cohorts of patients that we know can massively benefit from the use of our technology.”

Mark Gibson, Director for Digital Health and Smart Places, Northern Ireland, at BT, said:

“We are delighted to be working in partnership with the SE Trust Innovation Team and Feebris to deliver and further prove the value of Technology Enabled Care (TEC) solutions. Healthcare organisations are facing exceptional demand due to growing challenges. We are here to help with cutting-edge technology for real-time, data-driven decisions and collaboration. We are building a connected community of care focusing on the patient and clinician user experience and outcomes.”

Last month, Feebris announced the launch of the paediatric virtual ward in Norfolk and Waveney, where the company is supporting one of the largest integrated virtual ward programmes inEngland, onboarding 500+ patients a month.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact leo@feebris.com.

About Feebris

At Feebris, our mission is to create a world where nobody suffers because they cannot access healthcare. The Feebris virtual care platform powers the continuum of care by supporting patients throughout proactive health and episodes of higher acuity, helping health and care teams collaborate on delivering person-centred care close to the home. The solution is deployed across more than 150 NHS and social care sites, including one of the biggest integrated virtual ward programmes in England, in Norfolk and Waveney – delivering virtual wards in step-up and step-down models while also supporting care homes and GP practices in the region.

About BT Group

BT Group is the UK’s leading provider of fixed and mobile telecommunications and related secure digital products, solutions and services. We also provide managed telecommunications, security and network & IT infrastructure services to customers across 180 countries.

BT Group consists of three customer-facing units: Consumer serves individuals and families in the UK; Business covers companies and public services in the UK and internationally; Openreach is an independently governed, wholly owned subsidiary wholesaling fixed access infrastructure services to its customers - over 700 communications providers across the UK.

British Telecommunications plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/about.