6
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Reach
Issue 8 2015
Telemedicine/Video Technology
– Clinician to Clinician
Communications:
A challenge to
health and social care providers
serving large and remote rural areas
with a dispersed population is in
getting the right care in the right place
at the right time. This has been made
more difficult with the centralisation
of specialist services such as stroke
care, angioplasty and pediatrics
along with the need to meet stringent
performance targets and with little
funded growth for service pressures.
The disconnect between health and
social care and their difficulty in getting
easy access to tertiary care services
can lead to a delay in the response
provided, with the patient potentially
having to undertake a long journey to
hospital when it is not required.
The development of remote working
telemedicine/ video links over LTE
between clinicians and also to social
care service providers will improve the
service to patients and help reduce
the number of admissions to hospital.
It will also start to bring together
health and social care services,
enabling the provision of a more
seamless service. It could also be a
cost-effective way of providing some
elements of health and social care to
a dispersed population.
The scope of this technology is
not limited to only health and social
care patients, there is no reason
why such technical links could not
be established between a frontline
paramedic or GP and to a major
trauma centre, maternity unit,
or specialist treatment centre. A
reduction in admissions to hospital by
1% can save the NHS £1m.
Taking Back Office Functions to
the Frontline:
The registration of
ambulance paramedics and the
drive to raise standards in terms of
response times and clinical quality
has developed the mobile “workforce
concept”. Ambulance clinicians
spend most of their shift responding
to calls, and rarely return to their
base station. However, despite the
introduction of the electronic patient
care record (EPCR), paper records
still dominate the ambulance sector
and these are audited, reviewed, filed
and retained in a number of back
office functions at either base stations
or head offices.
The health sector has not
fully grasped the opportunities
to introduce new technology to
streamline services and to reduce
administration costs without
compromising quality and patient
safety. There is great scope to do
this in the ambulance sector and to
empower clinicians through the use
of a handheld mobile device reducing
the amount of paperwork and
duplication that currently exists.
For example, such a device could
contain clinical guidelines, all forms
relevant to patient assessment and
referral, a non-conveyance form, a
list of alternative care pathways, be
used to send and receive business
related emails, provide ongoing
update training and provide access
to all current and relevant policies
and procedures. It would also have
access to all hospital, health and
social care and GP services.
No compromise:
There has
been significant progress made by
ambulance services over the last 20
years or more and this is testament
to the tremendous leadership and
commitment demonstrated by so
many to cope with the constant
change and challenges facing today’s
ambulance services.
Often ambulance leaders have
little time to reflect on what has
been achieved as they manage a
multitude of issues on a day-to-
day basis. But we should not lose
sight of the tremendous advances
in clinical training and education,
vehicle design, mutual aid, resilience
and emergency preparedness. As
the communications services too
are now evolving, we must ensure
that there are no backward steps in
terms of coverage, resilience, and
interoperability. Patient and staff
safety must not be compromised.
We have a duty of care.
This article was first published
in Ambulance Today
Maintaining levels of service is
increasingly challenging due to
ever more restricted budgets,
and ‘business as usual’ has to
carry on despite the constant
state of flux in the sector. Over
the next three to five years,
the sector will be looking to
integrate changes arriving
from several directions.
