Through the use of a remote data access, transfer and collaboration system, consultants working for the Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are now only minutes away from vital tools to aid decision-making, whatever their location.

 

“A consultant may not be present in the hospital when they are required to aid decision-making. With ISEEU Global Data Access, a consultant can effectively be available 24/7 without the high costs of having them constantly on site”

The roll out of the technology comes in light of Lord Darzi’s High Quality Care For All report, which put pressure on NHS trusts to provide a greater level of patient safety and improve the quality of service in all areas.

 

In critical care, in particular, an immediate medical response may be required at times when resources, in terms of consultant expertise, are limited. In this case, the ability to access and share crucial medical information securely and remotely in real time and in accordance with government compliancy levels can be critical to the safety and continuity of care for patients.

 

With this pressure leading to many NHS trusts investing large sums of money in IT systems, Frimley Park Hospital bosses were looking for a solution which was secure and effective.

 

In particular, Dr Loua Shaikh, a consultant intensivist and anaesthetist, was looking for a way to gain secure portable access to his NHS trust emails.

 

At the time he began researching the issue three years ago there was no digital solution for sharing any data outside of the hospital’s own network and transferring large files often ended in distorted data. As a result, when intensivist care situations required a consultant’s opinion, Dr Shaikh often found himself travelling to the hospital to make decisions which, with the right technology, could have been made off-site by viewing patients’ files remotely.

 

Having decided to research options which would enable a productive and flexible working environment, a pilot scheme was introduced into the adult intensive care unit last year and is now being rolled out across the trust.

 

The ISEEU Clinical Workforce Accessibility solution incorporates two highly-secure functions: ISEEU Global Data Access to connect remotely to all administration and clinical applications; and ISEEU Global Data Transfer to virtually courier patient data. The system also incorporates ISEEU Global Collaboration, a secure virtual medical meeting centre where multiple healthcare professionals can simultaneously view and discuss patient files, saving travel time and cost and enhancing efficiency and resources.

 

IT improvements are a key priority for health services

The resulting solution enables round-the-clock, secure access to patient files and consultant expertise and integrates seamlessly with the hospital’s own systems.

 

Commenting on the improvements, Dr Shaikh said his plans for utilising IT were wider than simply allowing remote access to X-ray files.

 

“My radiology colleagues had a vision to digitalise radiological studies at Frimley Park well before the NHS National Programme for IT identified an interest in the area,” he told HES.

 

“With a host of servers collecting patient data from X-rays, ventilators, infusion pumps and heart monitors, a whole network of information was becoming digitalised. The next step was to get this data to clinicians swiftly, whatever their location, to help aid decision-making.”

 

With the increased complexity of critical care and changes to medical training, there was a growing skills gap for junior medical staff and with the roll out of the ISEEU systems, senior clinicians can now provide additional support and out-of-hours mentoring.

 

 

“Intensive care is centred on care of processes,” said Dr Shaikh. “Effectively the situation and care of a patient in the unit can change at any time. A consultant may not be present in the hospital when they are required to aid decision-making. With ISEEU Global Data Access, a consultant can effectively be available 24/7 without the high costs of having them constantly on site.”

 

Prior to the installation, consultants providing remote advice to junior doctors would have to take their word on the reading of an X-ray or diagnosis of a situation. Consultants can now view the images themselves at the same time as discussing a patient’s situation with the junior colleague.

 

Dr Shaikh said: “A picture tells a million words. For example, at times a junior doctor’s interpretation may be wrong. If I can see the image it aids decision-making, mentoring and patient therapy.”

 

The ability to achieve secure and fast remote access also assists ward rounds and handovers, helping consultants strategise with other medical professionals or multi-disciplinary teams. This means consultants can be at a patient’s bedside within minutes using virtual technology. Reviews on individual patient statistics can also be made in real-time between a consultant on the ward and the on-call clinicians. If the on-call doctors are then needed on-site, medical intervention can begin before they have started their journey using the Clinical Workforce Accessibility solution.

 

“Patients and their families tell me they feel reassured knowing that in a difficult situation, consultants are within just a few minutes’ reach to provide senior advice 24/7”

Proving it works in practice, the solution was called on when Dr Shaikh was at home, but on call, when a patient suffered a pulmonary embolism. In this situation, he consulted with the registrar by phone, using the new solution to gain a full picture of the situation. Following the virtual consultation, a prescription was given and the relevant drug infused as Dr Shaikh began his 30-minute journey to hospital.

 

He said: “The system impacted in the exact desired way. The right dose was prescribed and affected immediately and by the time I arrived on site, the therapy had commenced and the patient’s condition had started to improve.”

 

Opinions can also be gained from medical professionals outside of the trust through invitations to virtual meetings, which allow professionals to view patient files on remote devices such as laptops.

 

The ISEEU solutions form part of the hospital’s adult intensive care unit contingency plans, but work is currently underway to adapt the systems for use in the eventuality of an influx of paediatric swine flu cases.

 

Under this plan, should the children’s unit become overwhelmed during the predicted flu outbreak and adult beds have to be taken by younger patients, consultants on the adult ward will be able to speak to their paediatric colleagues remotely.

 

“The ability to communicate with experts from other locations and share patient data is of vital importance,” said Dr Shaikh. “Stretched medical resources will be more effective if virtual guidance can be utilised.”

 

“My radiology colleagues had a vision to digitalise radiological studies at Frimley Park well before the NHS National Programme for IT identified an interest in the area”

Dr Shaikh is now working to deploy a clinical information system to digitalise historical patient data. It is hoped this will create a wealth of information available to review easily and securely by clinicians.

 

“Patients and their families tell me they feel reassured knowing that in a difficult situation, consultants are within just a few minutes’ reach to provide senior advice 24/7,” he said. “With the full roll-out of the service, radiology doctors can view scans and orthopaedic surgeons are able to give advice on spinal X-rays without having to be on site. The whole medical network now has the potential to achieve rapid turnaround times on delivering the highest-quality patient care.”

 

Commenting on the deployment of the solutions, Phil Bullivant, director of ISEEU Global, said: “We help organisations such as Frimley Park Hospital to create joined-up and flexible working solutions to maximise their IT investment and deliver new ways of working.

“The success of the service in place has been of great pride to us and the reduced time pressures and increased efficiency of working practices will greatly benefit patient care.”