A remote outpatient clinic set up by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust in a department store in Poole has processed more than 2,600 patients since its launch in mid-December.
The trust launched the remote outpatient assessment clinic at Dorset Health Village in Beales Department Store as part of its ‘Think Big’ project to tackle backlogged outpatient appointments.
In addition to pre-booked outpatient appointments, Covid-19 booster vaccinations have also been given at the clinic, located inside Poole’s Dolphin Centre.
Mark Mould, COO at University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, said: “One month in, and our remote outpatient clinic at Beales department store is proving successful. On day one, more than 100 patients attended breast-screening, dermatology and ophthalmology appointments at the clinic.
“We know some patients have been waiting a long time for appointments and we are determined to do everything we can to help work through our waiting list as quickly as possible.
“Our remote outpatient clinic at Beales is one initiative making up the Think BIG project designed to tackle the backlog of appointments. It is part of a novel and ambitious transformation plan to provide high volume, low complexity face-to-face outpatient appointments, using processes developed from the running of the mass vaccine centres.”
The technology used to integrate and manage patient data for the project has been supplied by specialist patient flow management software company, Intouch with Health.
Kevin Fletcher, COO at Intouch with Health, said: “This project is a truly innovative approach to tackling the backlog of outpatient appointments created by the pandemic.
“Intouch was asked to support with a ready-to-go technology package to allow staff to access and manage the data for patients attending the remote clinic alongside outpatients visiting the trust’s three hospitals.
“Integration has been key to the success of this initiative to ensure staff across the whole trust can access a single view of all outpatient appointments taking place – and the associated patient information – at any given time across the four sites.”
Mr Mould added: “Our staff are using Intouch’s patient Flow Manager digital dashboard to track each outpatient appointment in session, as well as Wait Time Manager, patient check-in and patient calling modules.
“A mobile appointment manager app also lets our patients check in using their smartphone or tablet when they arrive, supporting on-going social distancing and infection control measures and providing patients with extra convenience and choice.”
The remote clinic has initially been set up for three years, but the trust said it may remain open for longer.
