Devon Doctors is the lead provider for urgent care in Devon, offering 24/7 access to urgent care services. It is a social enterprise organisation, run by healthcare professionals, owned by GP practices, and existing to benefit the local communities it serves, with any profits put back into health services.
Innovation to enhance care delivery has always been a key driver for Devon Doctors and the advent of HSCN represented a wealth of improvement opportunity. It wanted to move quickly and be an early adopter but also had concerns about the migration from N3 to HSCN, given that it was not an insignificant project and, just to add to the pressure, it would be the first ever live HSCN access delivered within primary care.
Arron Gardner, Devon Doctors’ IT Manager comments: “Given that this was something new and very high profile, we could have been forgiven for being a little anxious, but from the outset, the engagement was only ever positive.”
Key to that reassurance was having a partner who could evidence:
“The quality of service delivery showed that confidence was not misplaced and we can now look forward to leveraging HSCN to the full.”
It gives Devon Doctors improved scope for initiatives that can make a real impact on clinical care and outcomes, and the patient experience.
Redcentric put a huge effort into becoming the first CN-SP to reach second stage compliance so that it could then move quickly to deliver live services and help steer Devon Doctors through the smoothest of switchovers. The project management team engaged consistently with NHS Digital, allowing it to liaise effectively in turn with Arron and his team: clear communication, responsiveness and accountability were very much the hallmarks of the project from start to finish.
For Devon Doctors, the move to HSCN aligned perfectly with its very progressive outlook, as Arron explains: “While we appreciate that HSCN will usher in a greater digital maturity with the sharing of information and collaboration, we also see it as a catalyst for further innovation. It gives Devon Doctors improved scope for initiatives that can make a real impact on clinical care and outcomes, and the patient experience.
Better care outcomes: Modernised connectivity with its range of overlay services can be harnessed to drive continual improvement
Augmented clinical capabilities: HSCN has allowed access to new solutions, for example, a powerful wound management app
Service delivery transformation: Supporting the use of tablet computers to deliver virtual clinics and triage within nursing homes
Enhanced remote working: Patient data can be checked and updated in real-time, underpinning quality and accuracy of both treatment and records management
Devon Doctors continues its mission to expand and enhance its Integrated Urgent Care Service, leveraging the Redcentric portfolio and the speed, security and scalability of HSCN.
