Fast-tracking digital solutions across community services
What was the problem the trust was looking to solve?
The unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 required the trust to fast track the implementation of most of its digital strategy road map in order to:
- ensure the safety and wellbeing of staff and service users
- enable the ongoing delivery of nationally determined essential patient services
- support staff to deliver clinical and non-clinical roles from home wherever possible
What was the response to this problem?
A trust-wide COVID-19 digital mobilisation plan was developed via a virtual project team, with service leads and champions engaged in developing the plan, identifying priorities and piloting software. The immediate priorities were to deliver training via Microsoft Teams and pilot AccuRx and Attend Anywhere virtual consultation software, while deploying vast numbers of laptops and VPN solutions, prioritising clinical and non-clinical staff working in essential services.
Weekly video consultation implementation calls with service champions enabled the sharing of implementation experience, development of guides and troubleshooting, which in turn ensured a standardised approach to governance across multiple services. Regular all staff virtual Q&A sessions provided a safe environment within which staff could engage with executive directors and the trust’s ICT team to share concerns, ideas, challenges and successes.
Wider engagement with partners across the health and care system enabled system wide innovation, for example the roll out of iPads with Microsoft Teams software (in partnership with Luton CCG and Luton Council) to all care homes in the Luton area.
What was the impact?
Video and telephone consultations now account for 50% of contacts across the trust’s services. As a result:
- child development contacts have continued, including with vulnerable families who may otherwise have come 'invisible'
- virtual education, training and support group sessions have been introduced with service users
- health and social care professionals are now able to work collaboratively to deliver holistic care. For example, joint virtual sessions were held with care homes in Luton to review residents’ treatment and care plans, and build confidence in care home staff to deliver delegated tasks under the remote guidance of clinicians.
The trust's digital platforms have also been enhanced, providing reassurance that essential services continued to be available, and sign-posting people to rapidly introduced single points of access and resources that support self-help.
Initial analysis against the trust’s strategic objective has demonstrated extremely positive feedback from staff, service users and partners, as well as a significant reduction in CO2 emissions of 192,000 kg, when comparing April – June 2019 staff private car mileage to the same quarter in 2020.
What is planned next?
A new digital transformation strategy is being developed. Technology will be a vital enabler in delivering this strategy and achieving the trust’s broader objectives across clinical pathways, improving outcomes and addressing health inequalities. The clinical engagement and leadership which were integral to successfully fast-tracking digital solutions to date will continue to be vital moving forward.
The trust recognises that some individuals and groups may find digital channels more difficult to access, so the digital strategy will be coproduced with service users to help address these issues, ensuring all service users receive equitable and personalised care however these choose to engage with the services.
Successful implementation of this new strategy will:
- give service users more control of their health and care
- empower staff to provide the highest quality of care and benefit from innovative technologies, with new digital trainer roles introduced to support staff (and service users) develop skills and capabilities
- deliver connected care and information, so patients only have to tell their story once