The Somerset Digital Journey…
In 2017 I was asked to join the NHS England Gastroenterology 100 Day Project here in Somerset, and as a group of clinicians we were keen to embrace technology.
Our remit: to improve patient experience while reducing the burden on primary and secondary care. Our solution: patient webinars to prevent unnecessary duplication of patient information.
We have been delighted with the success of our IBS patient webinars.
Our largest cohort of attendees are 65-74 year olds which blows out of the water the idea that technology discriminates against the older generation.
Use of webinars has reduced our referral rate into our 1-1 service by almost 50% giving us the opportunity to take on dietetic care of coeliac disease and inflammatory bowel disease in remission – unthinkable prior to the webinars.
95% of attendees state that they would recommend the webinars to friends, with 96% stating that they had fair, good or excellent knowledge in managing their IBS post webinar. Having access to reliable information from NHS specialists was the biggest draw for these patients as well as having the ability to watch the webinars ‘on demand’ at a time and place of their choosing without the need to travel.
The use of webinars puts control back in the hands of the patient allowing them to download handouts and re-watch webinars as often as they wish to consolidate knowledge.
The NHS is in an enviable position of being able to offer accurate and reliable health information and could offer a national database of trusted patient focused webinars by clinical experts in a multitude of disciplines.
Since winning the NHS Digital AHP Digital Practice Award in 2018, we have received requests from all over the UK from many healthcare professionals wanting to set up patient webinars. As clinicians we have a unique perspective on the issues faced by patients and there is a valuable authenticity when clinical staff themselves are the drivers behind this form of digital health transformation.
We would love to know if you are thinking of running webinars for patients - this survey takes 30 seconds - promise! https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/3KW5PSN
You can read the full paper here