Delivering in a Digital World
COVID-19 and the NES Digital Service (NDS)
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our role to use technology to help improve health and care has led us to develop a number of new projects in response to the global pandemic. These are the highlights of the team’s work over the past six months:
SMS Shielding Service
Our first COVID-19 response involved helping to develop an SMS Shielding Service. Towards the end of March, the Scottish Government issued guidance to around 150,000 people in Scotland with certain pre-existing conditions, advising them to self-isolate to protect themselves from the virus.
Within a two-week timeframe, NDS helped the Scottish Government develop a text messaging service to get groceries and medication delivered to the homes of shielding people. We worked with the Scottish Government, Local Authorities and private sector partners to keep people safe from COVID-19 and we're proud to say that the service registered over 118,000 people and delivered over 915,000 grocery boxes.
Eyecare
The COVID-19 pandemic severely restricted Community Optometry Services, with many closing their doors since controls to limit the virus were implemented. However, there was still a need to treat patients in an emergency. NDS worked with colleagues in NHS Grampian and NHS Forth Valley on the ‘Eyecare’ product – this service introduced a leading open source electronic patient record (EPR) for ophthalmology called ‘Openeyes’ onto the National Digital Platform, to enable virtual consultations with patients and to share the information needed to treat patients between optometrists and ophthalmologists.
Essential ACP (Anticipatory Care Planning)
The COVID-19 pandemic has also brought into sharp focus the need to have what can be difficult conversations, particularly around end-of-life care. The ‘Essential ACP’ aims to improve the quality of information that gets shared in a patient’s Key Information Summary, to give some tips to professionals who have been asked to have these conversations for the first time and to ensure vulnerable people are able to express their wishes during the COVID-19 public health emergency and afterwards.
September, 24 2020