Virtual visit service wins national award
A service with the human touch has won a national award for helping families stay in contact with their loved ones during the pandemic.
The NHS Book a virtual visit app service won ‘Healthcare Project of the Year’ at the annual UK IT Industry Awards which was held online itself due to current pandemic restrictions.
The virtual visit service was used across 66 Covid and non-Covid wards across the trust where visiting restrictions were enforced to minimise the potential spread of the virus.
Many of the calls were generated for end-of-life patients giving relatives the chance to say goodbye. The video calls included emotional, heartfelt moments including a patient’s granddaughter playing a favourite piece of music on the piano.
To date, the service app has facilitated over 9,300 virtual visits and has been adopted by other trusts around the country including Kettering General Hospital.
The service was set up after Sonia Patel, the trust's former Chief Information Officer appealed to tech firms to help find a solution to enable staff to book and facilitate virtual visits between loved ones and patients via video call.
NHS Book a virtual visit was created by Made Tech in collaboration with the trust, St Mark’s Foundation and volunteers allowing hospital staff too easily and quickly schedule calls between a patient and the loved one, with minimal data needed to support the call.
Staff simply added the family or friend’s details into the service which automatically sends an SMS to them, stating when their virtual visit was is booked for. They then received a unique link to join the call at the agreed time.
Made Tech built the a free prototype of the app service within 48 hours of the Sonia’s appeal in order to meet demand during the height of the pandemic.
The service was built around user needs and delivered as an open source solution using agile and lean techniques so that it could be used across any video service and can be scaled across the trusts.
Glenys Lawson, Digital Matron, said: “The most notable thing for me was the speed with which virtual visits was developed working collaboratively with digital services, and the spirit and enthusiasm that the clinical areas showed in embracing the use of technology to allow the patients and their relatives to connect again during the pandemic.
“The simplicity of the application means that wards work independently in managing the visits. The schedule can be as responsive as the patients’ condition requires and all members of the team take time to ensure they maintain the precious bond, assurance and comfort that is so vital at such a vulnerable and worrying time for our patients and families.”
Dr Anu Obaro from St Mark's Hospital added: “Together we were able to develop an app that was simple to use and has been invaluable in reconnecting loved ones at a time when physical visits were completely restricted.”
Luke Morton, CTO at Made Tech, said: “I am proud to have been a part of the development and delivery of the virtual visits service. Driven by real user need, our team at Made Tech worked in collaboration with the trusts including their clinical teams, and patients to develop a service that can provide comfort to them and their loved ones at an extremely difficult time.
“Winning the UK IT Industry Award represents our intent – to build a best in show NHS branded application that makes a positive difference to patients and our healthcare heroes.”