Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust has launched a digital inclusion team with the aim of improving access to healthcare and increasing patient comfort and confidence through provision of one-on-one support.
The team of patient access navigators will provide bespoke support for patients, such as helping an individual to use wearable tech to monitor a long-term condition; helping them to utilise health apps; or assisting with accessing data or WiFi.
As part of the initiative, the trust set up a ‘Get Online’ event through which patients with questions or concerns about tech were encouraged to drop in and access advice and support.
Deputy chief medical officer Dr Reston Smith comments that the trust’s “long-term vision is that everyone in our community will have equitable access to and experiences of healthcare” and adds that the digital inclusion team will “work closely with patients to give them the support and knowledge they need to use digital health tools outside of a hospital setting”.
Supporting patients with digital
In a recent HTN Now panel discussion, we were joined by a panel of experts to share learnings on adopting patient-centred processes and solutions, and to highlight outcomes and challenges around engaging patients with support from digital.
In the summer, we looked into a meeting of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB in which CIO Kelvyn Hipperson shared an update on digital progress in the region, highlighting developments in progress around improving digital maturity, citizen engagement and patient experience.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB’s Access Improvement Plan also highlighted the role of digital and technology in improving access to healthcare, with expected improvements for patients including less hurdles and clear information when accessing services.
Also from Bath
HTN explored the latest research strategy from Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust, examining how “the digital explosion in healthcare provides us with much data” and outlining the use of this data to support the trust’s key strategic priorities as “core business”.
Earlier in the year we also noted how Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust are to implement a new shared electronic patient record.
