THURSDAY, 25 JUNE, 2020

Photograph attached – One-year-old Gray Smith on a Near Me call

COVID-19: Patients praise new way of working for NHS Tayside

Patients have praised NHS Tayside’s move to provide more services remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since March, over 38,000 clinical appointments have taken place over the phone or online. Almost 98% of patients who have used the virtual service, Near Me, said they would use it again, with patients noting it has helped reduce their travel time and has increased their accessibility to healthcare.

One patient who has benefited from Near Me was one-year-old Gray Smith. He had an ophthalmology appointment earlier this month and his mum, Georgia, was impressed with the service.

Georgia said, “I was slightly apprehensive about Gray having a Near Me appointment as he does not sit still for any period of time, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well it went.

“I logged on around 10 minutes before our appointment time and then a lady came on to confirm Gray's details and placed us in the correct waiting room. We only had to wait a few minutes before we were joined by the clinician.

“The clinician made a lot of effort to try and engage with Gray and then went on to examine his eyes the best she could. She did a great job of guiding me though what needed to be done to be able to see Gray’s eyes clearly.

“The appointment wasn’t rushed and I feel it was just as beneficial as it would have been at Ninewells Hospital.”

Laic Khalique, Director of Digital Technology for NHS Tayside, said, “It’s great that Georgia and Gray have had an excellent experience with Near Me. They are not alone with 97.8% of our patients surveyed saying they would use video consultations again.

“We are now working hard to ensure that the benefits of these changes become permanent as we modernise our services in order to increase the quality of care for everyone in Tayside.

“NHS Tayside has a strong reputation for delivering innovative new services and it is important that we keep up this momentum going forward. This work will help us to deliver safe and effective healthcare for the future.”

Near Me allows patients to use their own digital device to enter an online waiting area for their booked appointment. The technology behind the service has been designed specifically for the healthcare sector and helps clinicians to speak to their patients remotely.

The majority of the remote consultations that have taken place so far have been urgent outpatient appointments. 59 departments across NHS Tayside are now using the service, including occupational health, dermatology and paediatrics. GPs are also increasingly using Near Me, with 49 surgeries logging into the service regularly.

Contact:

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 424138