ONE hundred people in Dorset who need social care are going to be monitored by new artificial intelligence (AI) technology as part of a three-month pilot.

Dorset Council has already started piloting the technology which is in the process of being rolled out in stages across the entire county, and will be installed into the homes of 100 people and used across five of the council's social care teams.

Lilli, a UK-based tech company using machine learning in home care, is partnering with Dorset Council for the trial pilot to identify if its machine learning sensors can help cut costs and save time in care provision.

The company said it believes it can reduce the number of support visits patients need by 780 hours each year and save £250,000 per year in costs for Dorset Council.

The pilot also seeks to see whether AI can be used to delay entry to residential care, enable existing service users and newly-discharged patients from hospital to live independently in their homes for longer and reduce the number of crisis events affecting individual service-users.

The company says that the technology uses machine learning to analyse data from a range of sensors placed around the home, monitoring things like doors or fridges opening, or kettles being switched on. The data collected is then used to create individual behavioural patterns, providing a clear picture for occupational health therapists as to the ‘normal’ base line for individuals’ behaviour.

Small deviations from this pattern of behaviour can indicate a possible deterioration in health or wellbeing and care teams are then alerted, with follow-up interventions by GPs, district nurses or community rehabilitation teams as appropriate.

For example, Lilli said that the sensors could flag that an individual has been getting up in the night a lot more frequently than usual, which could prompt the occupational therapist to ask specific questions around that issue, perhaps identifying that the individual is potentially suffering from a UTI. This can then be treated in the appropriate manner, at home, without this condition deteriorating and potentially resulting in a more serious incident, such as a fall.

Cllr Piers Brown, Lead Member for Health at Dorset Council said: “We are pleased to partner with Lilli on this important pilot. It has the potential to improve provision across Dorset and our partner organisations in the NHS, making sure we are able to support people safely in their own homes and they can be discharged from hospital using the D2A (discharge to assess) pathway to support their ongoing recovery.

"We have a strong belief in focussing on what’s important to the people we support, looking at their strengths, what they can do rather than what they can’t, so we are tailoring the pilot around these themes.”

Nick Weston, Chief Commercial Officer at Lilli said: “We are thrilled with the initial success of this pilot with Dorset – an authority that understands how data-driven, smart technology can help providers make better-informed, more effective decisions about patient needs and resource allocation, improving outcomes and saving lives.

“Using this technology, over-stretched health and social care providers can intervene earlier while monitoring at a distance, reducing the need for hospital admissions or residential care and lowering costs. Tech will not replace care by humans, but it will improve it.”

Lilli said that the number of sensors in each home can vary depending on each individual person. The final number of and the types of passive sensors will be decided on following consultations with participant’s occupational therapists. This is because it will it differ person to person due to the specific care needs of each individual.