Doccla uses AI and wearables to cut NHS bed days and costs

Doccla, which provides remote patient monitoring and virtual wards to NHS trusts, reports that trusts using its platform saw a 61% reduction in bed days, an 89% fall in GP appointments and a 39% drop in non-elective admissions. The company estimates the service saves about £450 per monitored patient per day compared with inpatient care.

The platform links clinical-grade wearable devices that record oxygen saturation, blood pressure and ECG with patients’ medical records. Doccla says algorithms analyze continuous readings to identify early signs of deterioration, allowing clinicians to intervene sooner or to support earlier discharge.

Doccla reports a financial return: an estimated £3 saved by the health service for every £1 spent on the technology compared with non-technology care models. The company says those savings come from fewer inpatient days, reduced primary care contacts and lower emergency admissions.

The software automates routine data review and uses large language models to shorten clinical notes and present information to patients in simpler language, the company says. According to Doccla, those tools enable clinical teams to manage larger caseloads than with traditional home-care arrangements.

In a statement, Doccla’s head of clinical development, Macdonnell, wrote: “At Doccla, we use machine learning to identify patients at risk of deterioration before they reach crisis point. Continuous data from clinical-grade wearables like oxygen saturation, blood pressure and ECGs are analyzed with medical records to detect early warning signs.”

NHS clinicians and regulators have called for independent evaluation and transparency around predictive systems. Local providers require evidence that models are accurate and fair across diverse patient groups before wider deployment.

The NHS’s Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out a policy to shift more care into the community. Remote monitoring and virtual wards, including platforms such as Doccla’s, are part of that approach to move appropriate care out of hospitals and into patients’ homes.