The NHS faces unprecedented pressures this winter, after the high levels of patients over the festive period has led to the deferral of all non-urgent inpatient elective care, day-case procedures and routine outpatient appointments. This deferral of non-urgent operations and appointments has been implemented to free clinical time for non-elective care.
The National Emergency Pressures Panel has noted “the NHS has been under sustained pressure over the Christmas period with high levels of respiratory illness, bed occupancy levels giving limited capacity to deal with demand surges, early indications of increasing flu prevalence and some reports suggesting a rise in the severity of illness among patients arriving at A&Es” in an update posted by NHS England.
There are numerous ways that by using medio.link cloud video conferencing service can aide the demand surges in the NHS and help free up clinicians’ precious time during this high pressure period.
Having the option of holding a virtual clinic with an outpatient for a routine appointment, rather than attending hospital can increase efficiency by reducing the chances of time wasted due to a patient Did Not Attend, and reduces the risk of germs and viruses spreading.
NHS England have advised that the clinical time released by these deferrals of care should be re-prioritised to a number of more important duties, one of them being to ’ensure consultant availability for phone advice for GPs’. As collaboration is being encouraged between GPs and hospitals; using a video call instead of the telephone for advice can give the added advantage of the consultant being able to view the patient, resulting in a more thorough assessment and ultimately better advice.
medio.link can provide an easier way for colleagues to share patient information, discuss patients care and hold meetings whether it’s across departments or between hospitals. In challenging periods where time is crucial, saving time by collaborating over a video call rather than in person can help provide clinicians, consultants and frontline staff with the extra resources they need to deliver the best patient care they can.
Contact us to find out more about medio.link or to speak to a specialist.
