When the novel coronavirus arrived in the UK, the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust advanced its IT by “four years in four months” to support clinicians and patients. Chief information officer Adam Thomas explains what it learned along the way.
The unthinkable happened in March, when we woke up to the reality of COVID-19. None of us should ever lose sight of the fact that there is an enormous, human cost to this disease that continues to this day. But the unimaginable happened because in preparing to confront the consequences of the pandemic, we realised that a lot of things that had seemed like big issues were no longer major problems.
Take virtual access to outpatient clinics, for instance. About six months before COVID arrived, I was in a meeting about whether we could do this and still deliver good care. It was an aspiration in the NHS Long-Term plan, but in that meeting it felt like it was a long way off. Then COVID-19 arrived; we rolled out the ‘Attend Anywhere’ platform in four days, and that answered the question. We went from delivering 5% of outpatient appointments virtually to delivering 60% by video or phone call.
Challenges addressed
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