A remote monitoring smartphone app to help women manage gestational diabetes has been approved by the NHS.
GDm-Health, developed by Drayson Technologies, is the first gestational diabetes patient-to-clinician mobile app that has been recommended for publication in the NHS Digital Tools Library.
Once the GDm-Health app is downloaded it connects via Bluetooth or NFC (near field communication) to the users’ blood glucose monitor and automatically collects blood glucose readings.
It has been designed so women with gestational diabetes can easily track and store their progress. The data can then be securely uploaded and stored onto an NHS-based server where the clinical team can review the readings and provide feedback.
At the moment the more conventional way women are asked to monitor their gestational diabetes involves keeping a written diary and attending regular clinic visits.
The app has been tried and tested by more than 1,000 women and has shown to help reduce hospital visits by a quarter.
Hazel Jones, programme director for apps and wearables at NHS Digital, said: “Our ambition to provide greater digital choice for patients, citizens and clinicians has moved forward significantly with the introduction of key mobile apps and tools such as GDm-Health.
“Tapping into digital tools created by health specialists in the marketplace and applying the NHS Digital Assessment process means we can select the right tools to accelerate the delivery of a meaningful digital experience; all accessible via our NHS Apps Library.
“Our strategy is firmly fixed on leveraging mHealth innovation to provide better health and wellbeing outcomes, and GDm-Health is a perfect example of that.”
Lucy Mackillop, consultant obstetric physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and clinical lead for the development of GDm-Health, said the system was created to “help support women manage their gestational diabetes better while reducing the number of hospital visits”.
She added: “The system has been evaluated and found to be safe and convenient for women. This system also facilitates more effective and efficient team based care with automated alerting and prioritisation and electronic capture of data for audit.”

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