A remote monitoring app for patients receiving palliative and end‑of‑life care in the community is showing how technology can transform support, enabling more people to remain at home in their final months, weeks and days while strengthening the connection between patients, families and their nursing teams.
Most people want to die comfortably at home, but many still experience unmanaged symptoms or unplanned hospital admissions that lead to them receiving care in a setting that does not always align with their wishes.
The Comfort Tracker app helps community teams respond more quickly to patients’ symptoms, comfort levels, concerns and wellbeing needs whilst at home and provide reassurance to them and their families when they need it most.
Following a six‑month pilot launched last year, 200 patients supported by community nursing teams across West Sussex have used the Comfort Tracker. The pilot has demonstrated clear benefits, including reduced hospital admissions, patients and families feeling more supported, and a better experience for community nursing teams.
Dr Suzanne Ford-Dunn, Consultant in Palliative Medicine at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust, who was awarded a Digital Fellowship to help develop the app, said: “We know that most people approaching the end of their lives would prefer to remain at home. But at a time when community services are facing increasing pressures, it’s essential that we explore new and effective ways of supporting patients and their families — and this app enables us to do exactly that.
“Since its launch, the results have been incredibly encouraging. We’re already seeing how integrating the app into patients’ care is helping to enhance comfort, reduce hospital admissions, and give people the support they need to stay at home — and that is exactly the outcome we strive for.”
The app was co-developed by a team of clinicians working across community and acute care: Dr Suzanne Ford-Dunn at University Hospitals Sussex; Lisa O’Hara, Nurse Consultant Palliative and End of Life Care, Sussex Community Foundation Trust; and Dr Rachel Melsom, Macmillan Palliative and End of Life Care Transformation Lead, Sussex. Funding support was provided by Macmillan Cancer Support and the Surrey and Sussex Cancer Alliance.
The Comfort Tracker (hosted with Doccla) is completed weekly by patients or family members using a short questionnaire. Responses are reviewed by district nursing teams, highlighting any deterioration or unmet needs and enabling appropriate follow‑up or escalation of care.
Dr Rachel Melsom, End of Life Transformation Lead at Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The Comfort Tracker app helps to reduce unnecessary admissions, empowers patients and helps us deliver the best patient care at home. In addition, it improves carer understanding of what to expect when someone dies. All this ties into the NHS 10-Year Plan: using digital technology to improve patient care and move it out of the acute and into the community setting, where appropriate.”
Following the success of the initial phase, the team has now secured additional funding to support up to 1,000 patients at a time and to roll out the app across East Sussex and Surrey over the next 12 months. This includes ensuring appropriate patients discharged from University Hospitals Sussex can access the tool.
The team is also working closely with the Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Board (ICB) and virtual health programmes, with the ambition of offering Comfort Tracker support to all patients in the last year of life across Sussex.
Digital transformation is essential to delivering safer, faster, and more personalised care. This project is a strong example of how using technology to transform clinical pathways and services can support excellent care for the future.