Going with the Flo

An innovative text messaging system named after pioneering nurse Florence Nightingale is giving patients the power to improve their own health, according to a leading GP.

The SMS system, known as Flo, has been trialled across 36 Clinical Commissioning Group areas and a further 16 organisations including Hospital Trusts, Community Trusts and local authorities. And so far it's proved to be a huge success with both clinicians and patients alike.

Not only is the system helping save time and money by cutting the amount of face-to-face contacts needed with healthcare professionals, it's also helping put the patient back in control of their illness.

Flo can be used for a wide range of interventions such as sending medication reminders to patients with early dementia, or supporting patients with diabetes, depression, asthma, heart failure, pre-surgery weight loss, smoking cessation and hypertension, to name but a few. And according to doctors it's giving patients a real sense of empowerment by helping them to manage their own health care.

Dr Kevin Yee - Addington Road Health Centre, in West Wickham, Kent, has been using Flo with his patients for the past 12 months. He said: 'It's been really encouraging to see the impact that it's had on patients. For some patients with high blood pressure, just getting to the surgery can be stressful and raise their blood pressure. By enabling the patient to do this at home on a daily basis rather than waiting a week, for example,to come into the surgery, you get a much more accurate and regular reading and can intervene earlier if you spot any problems. For me engaging with Telehealth technologies is definitely the way forward to help us provide better outcomes for our patients. Flo has been a simple, yet effective way of utilising technology to help us meet our patients' needs'.
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