NHS Western Isles team in the running for award

The innovation and dedication of NHS Western Isles’ eHealth, Tec, and IT staff has been recognised as individuals and teams are up for four honours in the National Scottish Digital Health & Care Awards 2019.
The award nominated team: Christine Chlad; Jon Harris; Iain Trayner (VC); Elizabeth Fowler and Innes Morton.The award nominated team: Christine Chlad; Jon Harris; Iain Trayner (VC); Elizabeth Fowler and Innes Morton.
The award nominated team: Christine Chlad; Jon Harris; Iain Trayner (VC); Elizabeth Fowler and Innes Morton.

The Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in the growing digital health and care sector in Scotland, recognising the achievements of those working in the sector.

“To be shortlisted in four award categories is a really excellent achievement for our relatively small Board – the only other Board with more than one nomination is NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) who have been nominated for two,” said NHSWI Head of eHealth and IT, Jon Harris.

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And Jon has been nominated himself for the National Digital Health & Care ‘Digital Leader’ Award, as through his leadership NHSWI are recognised as trailblazers in Digital health across the eHealth, Tec, and IT sectors.

Under Jon’s stewardship, NHSWI has made enormous strides in achieving its goal to be fully digital by 2020, including the development of the digital pen for hand-held patient records; the introduction of a tablet-based system for community clinicians; developed remote VC clinics, and embedded into clinical practice the Flo text reminder service.

“We are on the cusp of implementing a single medical record and have won several awards for our digital work, so we know that our work is valued,” Jon added.

In his nomination, Jon’s team said of him: “Jon is the driving force behind our digital success. Endlessly innovative, supportive and patient, we know that we can think outside the box to achieve success; he will always support us.”

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Also shortlisted in the Awards’ ‘Digital Impact’ category is NHSWI Tec Project Manager Iain Trayner, Project Officer Elizabeth Fowler, and the NHSWI Tec and Orthopaedic teams for their work on transforming the hand surgery assessment pathway in the Western Isles.

Previously, island patients travelled to Glasgow for assessment by consultant hand surgeon Mr Grzegorz Sianos and, if surgery was required, the patient would return to Glasgow at a later date.

In response, the NHSWI Tec team, working with NHSWI Orthopaedic Team and NHSGGC, developed a custom telehealth cart with hand-held high definition camera, and integrated with the Attend Anywhere VC platform.

This allows patients to be examined in the Western Isles by NHSWI Extended Scope Practitioner Innes Morton, in collaboration with Mr Sianos in Glasgow.

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“If a steroid injection is needed, that is done by Innes immediately, and if the patient requires surgery, the work up for the operation is completed in Stornoway and only one trip is necessary to Glasgow,” said Iain.

“Patient feedback for this innovative service is extremely positive, and it has also saved 5.8 tonnes of carbon emissions.”

The hard work undertaken on the transformation of the hand surgery assessment pathway has also secured the NHSWI Tec team a shortlist place in the ‘Innovative Remote and Rural Services’ category at the National Digital Health & Care Awards.

And rounding up the four NHSWI award nominations is the eHealth team’s work with company Cambric Systems to develop the new Morse app earning a shortlist in the ‘Industry Collaboration’ award category.

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A tablet based system, running on both Android and iOS devices, the Morse app enables healthcare professionals to take and work with patient data offline, allowing them to update notes, complete forms and send referrals from patients’ homes in real time.

“We were delighted to get involved with Cambric as we had been looking at different mobile solutions,” said NHSWI eHealth Project Manager Christine Chlad.

“Cambric are excellent partners – endlessly patient, responsive and innovative, reacting to comments and suggestions from clinical teams so that the system is exactly what we need to deliver services to patients in our remote and rural areas.”

The National Digital Health & Care Awards take place in Edinburgh on February 20th.