Community and Primary Care - BeDigital Week 2024

To launch BeDigital Week 2024, we’re proud to highlight the innovative advancements taking place within our Community and Primary Care division. The focus is on transformative initiatives that are driving improvements in patient care and operational efficiency, particularly through the expansion of virtual wards and the optimisation of digital systems.

Our virtual wards are set to grow significantly, with enhanced strategies for early intervention and patient care. By partnering with InHealthcare, a Harrogate-based leader in remote patient monitoring, we are introducing a continuous monitoring service for key vital signs. This includes activity, blood pressure, body temperature, body posture, fall detection, heart rate, heart rate variability, respiratory rate, and single-lead ECG.

Patients can either wear devices for continuous monitoring or provide regular readings, with the data shared in real time via a clinician dashboard. Alerts to our clinicians will flag any out-of-range readings, enabling early intervention and improved patient outcomes. This advancement represents a major step forward in digitised care and boosting our efficiency in patient monitoring.

The division is also strengthening its digital integration with the appointment of a Divisional Clinical Systems Transformation Manager. This new role will oversee all digital aspects of the division, resolving IT and telephony challenges, and ensuring that services and workplaces are digitally equipped to meet evolving needs. This work will be central in aligning technological capabilities with the demands of both patients and staff.

Community and Primary Care have recently seen the introduction of a number of digitally based innovations in day-to-day practices. This has included Brigid, a smartphone application and Accurx which is a portal for sharing communications between clinicians and patients. These innovations have demonstrated how digital solutions can transform both patient engagement and operational efficiency.

We have also introduced Lexacom into the division which provides intuitive dictation software to support clinicians and administrative staff in their work, by taking notes verbally and creating written documentation for records and patients.

As BeDigital Week 2024 begins, these initiatives showcase the division’s ongoing commitment to delivering innovative, patient-centered care and the utilisation of technology across the Trust.