Revolutionising future care

A Yorkshire company based in Whitley Bridge near Doncaster claims its new patient monitoring system will revolutionise home care.

Tunstall, which specialises in telecare - a range of products which enable older people, people with physical and learning disabilities, and chronic conditions live independent lives - developed the so-called ADLife system to monitor daily living activities.

In two years, the company, working with Barnsley Hospital and using a research and development grant from Yorkshire Forward, has developed hardware and software for the ADLife system.

'Telecare at its most basic level is reactive so if a person is feeling unwell, fallen or there is an intruder, a personal radio trigger worn by an individual can be activated to alert the 24 hour monitoring centre,' explained Mike Hodges, research and development director at Tunstall.

The next level of telecare consists of sensors around the home that detect environmental issues such as floods, fires or gas leaks as well as movement, so such a system can tell if somebody has fallen or stayed in bed longer than usual which may indicate illness, or if they leave their property during the night, putting themselves at risk.