The publication of Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s plan for better care has acknowledged progress to date for digital first and AI, with metrics on current use of digital tools and systems such as MyCare, Copilot, and Epic.
The trust went live with its Epic EPR in April, integrating “hundreds” of systems previously in use across the the trust into a single electronic system, and introducing the MyCare patient portal to offer patients visibility of medical information, clinical interactions, and appointment details. Go-live marked a step toward realising the ambitions of the One Devon EPR programme.
A number of subsequent developments have been underway since, with the trust reporting its engagement with Epic on assessing the appointment intelligence tool and the integration requirements, with a workshop taking place in October to confirm implementation approach and revised timescales. Approval of the Epic AI scribe solution is going through information governance processes, with a planned pilot deployment in the ED following sign-off, the trust shares.
Elsewhere, the board highlights the continued roll out of Copilot, with 800 licences out of 1000 now deployed in priority areas, and a programme of training and enablement delivered with the clinical leadership and education team. 405 staff have completed a digital skills programme against a target of 1000, it states, and progress is being made on reducing the number of alternative applications in use where Epic is the primary platform. Adoption of MyCare is also currently at 46,000 against a target of 50,000 by the end of year one.
Also shared are outcomes from the wider Devon “Let’s Talk Neighbourhood Health” programme, which invited colleagues from across Torbay and South Devon to share their views on the future of neighbourhood health services via an online survey that received 83 responses. “Colleagues do not describe neighbourhood health primarily as a programme to move services out of hospital,” the trust explains, with staff instead describing easier access to support, better communication between services, and “human relationships sitting alongside digital innovation rather than being replaced by it”.
Access is one of the strongest themes to emerge from the survey, according to the trust, covering GP appointments, mental health services, physio, diagnostics, and specialist advice. One of the most “striking” findings, it continues, is how rarely colleagues discuss organisational structures, instead focusing on the ability to communicate with colleagues directly, MDTs, co-location, shared information, and reduced duplication. “This is a notable finding because many policy discussions focus heavily on organisational models,” the trust says. “Colleagues are focused on operational reality.”
Digital is widely supported, Torbay and South Devon reports, but digital-only is not. It outlines general support for concepts such as remote monitoring, online booking, shared digital records, MyCare, and improved digital communication; but shares a recurring theme for digital creating additional routes into care, rather than becoming the only route.
Concluding, the trust states: “The strongest warning running through the responses is not about the direction of travel. It is about implementation. Colleagues largely support the ambition. Their question is whether the workforce, community services, social care capacity and primary care infrastructure required to deliver that ambition will be in place. Ultimately, the responses show considerable alignment with the principles of neighbourhood health. The bigger challenge identified by colleagues is not defining the vision, but creating the conditions that allow that vision to become reality.”
Wider trend: Neighbourhood health
For a recent HTN Now webinar on the role of digital in delivering neighbourhood health, HTN was joined by an expert panel including Fay Johnstone, acute virtual ward matron at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (MTW) NHS Trust; Mayur Vibhuti, chief digital, data and intelligence officer at Kent and Medway ICB and Surrey and Sussex ICB; and Saleem Haider, people participation lead for digital at East London NHS Foundation Trust. Our panellists tackled key areas including national guidance and models, what “good” looks like for digital in neighbourhood health, challenges, approaches, and practical examples.
The Department of Health and Social Care has selected six neighbourhood health projects to act as “trailblazers” in the redesign of health and care services, backed by £1.5 million from the Office for the Impact Economy and in partnership with Macmillan. The six sites chosen will act as test beds for the development of new neighbourhood health models, bringing together NHS services, councils, community organisations, and local people in a bid to improve outcomes and tackle inequalities, DHSC shares.
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust has published a plan of action for population health and neighbourhood infrastructure, outlining a shared outcomes framework to support collective leadership, along with four proposed neighbourhood health aims aligned with the National Neighbourhood Health Framework. Sharing an ambition to develop neighbourhood infrastructure as a strategic capability and provide the foundations for integrated working at place level, the trust looks to establish a consistent integrated neighbourhood model across all places, using population health management to reduce inequalities and improve outcomes, and optimise care pathways to be person-centred, proactive, and neighbourhood-based.
