For anyone with a chronic condition, key challenges include the need for regular checks, unsuitable appointment times, costly parking and hours hanging about in hospital as clinics overrun — let alone the discomfort from their illness.
But technological advances mean many could have their health closely monitored in their own homes, rather than in hospital.
In fact, for some 280,000 NHS patients in England, home monitoring and ‘virtual wards’ (more frequent remote checks when patients need more intensive monitoring) are