'Smart' medicine boxes to prompt patients launched in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire County Council's adult social care team wants to improve health outcomes for elderly patients leaving hospital

A project that uses "smart" medicine boxes to remind older patients to take their medicine has been launched.

Oxfordshire County Council's Innovation Hub and its adult social care team want to improve health outcomes for patients leaving hospital.

The boxes, created by digital medicines company CONNECT Care, flicker and buzz when it is time to take a dose, and can even send texts.

Tim Bearder, head of adult social care, called it a "pioneering initiative".

He added: "After hospital treatment, patients recover more quickly at home but concerns about their ability to take medication independently can lead to a longer hospital stay than necessary."

He said the technology would "give patients greater confidence to get better in their own homes, freeing up space in hospitals for those who need it most, and allowing our residents to recover where they feel most comfortable".

How does the scheme work?

• The patient is given an initial face-to-face appointment when discharged

• A personalised schedule is created for medicine-taking

• The patient is given a smart medicine storage box

• The box alerts them when it is time for a dose - it can also text a family member if doses are repeatedly missed

• A weekly report is made from the data, available to carers and family members, flagging any concerns

The authority, which is working with NHS partners on the project, carried out an initial research and design phase in May last year.

It is now rolling it out to about 50 adult social care patients, backed by a £1m grant from Innovate UK.

It described the 16-month project as the "first of its kind" and added it was "providing a blueprint which could be scaled to support patients right across the UK to manage their medicines safely and independently".

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