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600 free health information videos added to NHS website

A library of over 600 free health information videos, produced by HCI, have been made available on the NHS website’s homepage.

The videos have been developed by the company in partnership with Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, and cover a range of subject areas such as asthma, pregnancy, diabetes, bladder, infections, kidneys, heart problems and hydration.

At the start of the pandemic, NHSX funded the initiative to help patients care for themselves at home, and provide a way to support patients with information digitally. There are also a number of ‘how to’ and ‘what to expect’ videos alongside.

The videos are written by clinical script writers and signed off by NHS clinicians. Since the library was launched, two in three patients surveyed have said that the videos have saved them from needing to seek out further contact with a healthcare professional. Additionally, 74% of those who took part in the survey said that the videos supported them in caring for themselves or others.

Tara Donnelly, Chief Digital Officer for NHSX, said of the video library: “These videos are a fantastic resource to support people who need help or advice at home, as well as busy clinical staff. We’ve had such positive feedback about how useful people have found them during the pandemic. Their addition to the nhs.uk homepage now means people can access them even more easily and allows clinicians to refer people directly to trusted advice on a familiar website which now gets 60 million visits a month.”

Natasha Phillips, Chief Nursing Information Officer, NHSX commented last year on the initiative: “At this time when patients are experiencing more remote interactions with health and care staff, patient information videos can be a useful tool to reinforce important information.”

You can view the library of videos here.