TEWV NHS
“ The new normal is very much about a blended approach . Ultimately it has to be about patient choice ”
KAM SIDHU CIO , TEES , ESK AND WEAR VALLEYS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Meanwhile their phone lines were constantly off the hook , as people called in with concerns over the new virus . " I was very impressed with the work the team did to quickly deploy additional headsets to manage the call volumes , and then start producing interactive reports that allowed us to really drill down and find out where there were real concerns in terms of COVID numbers . It was all done very quickly ." Using data to tell the patient story Sidhu ' s approach to using data is leveraging past and present data to build a picture of the complete patient journey , which will inform service provision and how they deliver care in the future .
Her team used data to build a digital poverty map so that areas experiencing the most difficulty can be targeted . They also use data for trend analysis to understand what ' s happening in the local population , and have issued questionnaires for people in the community to tell them what they would like to see from the trust ' s services . " For me data is about articulating a business problem , not about getting a new app . I think sometimes people have a tendency to talk to each other and one of them has a friend down the road using a specific app , and then the other person wants it without understanding the business problems . We ' ve changed our focus - now it ' s about using data to find out what we need to inform care , the way the service works , and inform service provision in the future ."
Healthcare in the " new " normal " Most organisations had been looking at doing virtual consultations before the pandemic started , but were very slow with adoption " Sidhu says . " We ' ve now got a new way of delivering care , and I believe it will be a blended approach that works for the patients and the staff ."
There are also new ways of delivering training and support , such as e-learning , which she believes will continue .
Another change is making better use of their buildings , and utilising any space that previously wasn ' t in use . " The private sector is much further ahead in terms of hot desking , so we might look at that . But some of the buildings have been left empty for probably a long time in certain parts of the trust . We want to look at how we use these differently ."
But possibly the biggest change has been to ways of communicating . " The way we are communicating now was very alien to a lot of people , but it ' s become very normal now . My mother who is in her 70s now knows how to use Whatsapp video , and I ' m so glad I taught her because I ' m in the north-east of England while she ' s in the Midlands ."
" I do think these new forms of interaction are here to stay , but I think the new normal is very much about a blended approach . Ultimately it has to be about patient choice ."
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