A major technology project aimed at reducing the backlog of hospital appointments caused by the pandemic is being launched across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.
Gloucestershire healthcare technology firm Intouch with Health is working with the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust (UHD) on the Think Big scheme, which includes opening a remote outpatient clinic in a department store.
The company’s patient flow management software will be used to handle the data for patients from the UHD’s Royal Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Hospitals who attend the clinic at Beales in Poole.
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The waiting list across Dorset is currently around 110,000 patients.
According to Mark Mould, chief operating officer at UHD, the project is a “novel and ambitious” plan that will provide “high-volume, low-complexity” face-to-face outpatient appointments, using processes developed from the running of the mass vaccine centres.
“As part of a wider programme of innovations for our elective recovery, UHD has developed plans to run outpatient appointments in a completely different way, taking over a floor of a large department store in the Dolphin Shopping Mall in Poole,” he explained.
“The remote outpatient clinic at Beales is one initiative making up the Think BIG project designed to tackle this backlog,” added Mr Mould.
“We know how long some have been waiting. We are determined to do everything we can to help work through our waiting list as quickly as possible."
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The project involves the launch of Intouch with Health’s patient Flow Manager dashboard – a central, digital dashboard accessed by staff for an oversight of each patient while their appointment is in session - and its Wait Time Manager, Patient Check-in and Patient Calling modules.
The launch of Intouch’s Mobile Appointment Manager at the trust will also allow outpatients to check in for a scheduled appointment using their smartphone or tablet when they arrive.
The company's tech was already being used at Poole Hospital, but its systems have now been integrated with Bournemouth following the hospital's merger to create UHD.
According to Intouch, the systems will be able to simultaneously manage data from outpatients who attend a remote appointment at Beales department store and those who attend a hospital site for their appointment.
Peter Beaumont, sales director at Intouch with Health, added: “Integration is key to the success of this initiative and staff across the whole trust need to access a single view of all outpatient appointments and associated patient information at any given time across the four sites.”
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