GPs given wearable ‘mood monitoring’ devices in wellbeing drive

Staff at Amicus Health, a GP practice in Devon, will be provided with a wearable device which allows the user to log how their day is going by pressing one of two buttons.

It may also be taken up nationally for student nurses, according to the company running the programme.

The information gathered can be viewed by employers on a dashboard, identifying whether there are particular times in the day when moods drop. Users will also be able to see their data on a personal app, allowing them to track mood triggers and patterns.

On the dashboard, employees’ data is divided into teams and is not anonymised, so employers can track the mood of individuals. Asked by HSJ whether this could deter some from using it, company co-founder Jonathan Elvidge said previous trials suggested it does not.

He told HSJ that during trials on construction sites, employers found it easier to take action if they were able to identify workers who were regularly reporting that they were feeling low.

He said employees preferred being identified as it gave them a voice and made it easier to express how they were feeling. 

The device — called a Moodbeam One — will be trialled on all 70 clinical and non-clinical staff members at the practice, including 25 GPs. It will largely be down to the practice to decide how the data is used, according to Mr Elvidge.

The trial in Devon is being run in partnership with Primary Care Direct, a company which provides professional support to GP practices across the country.

Christina Colmer McHugh, co-founder and director at Moodbeam, said: “We all know it can be quite hard to raise issues at work, especially if you are having a tough time, but self-reporting prompts allow staff to simply track how their day is going and report indirectly to managers and HR.

“Our dashboard combines this information and gives employers real-time feedback from staff – and especially throughout 2020 and the pandemic, being able to get this information from staff quickly without relying on appraisals or carrying out surveys will have been crucial.”

Primary Care Direct co-founder Kiran Johnson said: “The NHS People’s Plan places a heavy emphasis on staff wellbeing and the most important thing we can do in our business is to support the wellbeing of general practice teams, so this is the perfect opportunity to trial new ways of working, and we’re excited to be embarking on this adoptive trial of the Moodbeam One.”

The company said it was in early talks with Public Health England over trialling the device with student nurses, potentially asking them the question whether they feel supported on placement.