News

The NHSWI Patient Centred Care Programme team are delighted with the success of the first video conferencing (VC) haematology patient appointment which took place in the newly established NHS ‘Near Me’ dedicated VC room at Western Isles Hospital this week.

NHS ‘Near Me’ was first pioneered by NHS Highland and is now a collaborative programme between NHS Highland and NHS Western Isles.

It uses the very popular and robust ‘Attend Anywhere’ video conferencing system which has a virtual waiting room environment, making it as close to a traditional consultation as possible. 

The new NHSWI service has been developed to provide health care as close as possible to patients’ homes by offering appointments with consultants and other specialists via video link.

The move not only saves many patients from travelling to the mainland – often spending a day or more away from home to attend a short 10-15 minute consultation – but also frees up NHSWI resources for use in front-line care.

NHSWI Medical Director, Dr Angus McKellar, said: “We are acutely aware that we send many patients away to the mainland in order to access health care when we should be providing this locally.

“This ‘Near Me’ initiative helps us to deliver health care to the patient, instead of delivering the patient to healthcare.

“A lot of work has been done over the last two years in preparing for this, and we have already established video consultations for many patients with various conditions who have been able to meet with consultants using video conferencing.

“Patient feedback has been very positive; and this ‘Near Me’ initiative is the next step in this becoming mainstream and will initially include patients attending haematology clinics.”

Although NHSWI has utilised video conferencing for clinics in the past, a dedicated NHS ‘Near Me’ room has been established at Western Isles Hospital, with appointments for island haematology patients now being booked.

“The first appointment went like clockwork,” said NHSWI Technology Enabled Care Project Manager Iain Trayner. “The patient was impressed and the consultant in Inverness seemed to be pleased with the appointment also. It’s a good result all round.”
Commenting on the team’s hard work and determination with the ‘NHS ‘Near Me’ project, Iain added: “Collectively we have taken it from concept to a fully equipped, specially designed VC room with supporting processes and IT infrastructure in only seven weeks!”

New bright, bold signage directs patients to the NHS ‘Near Me’ room at Western Isles Hospital, where paint colour, lighting and equipment have all been designed to provide the best possible video image and sound quality.

Initially the service will be used, where appropriate, for Haematology patients living in Lewis and Harris. However, NHSWI plans to extend the NHS ‘Near Me’ service to Uist and Barra as well.

And other specialities where patients can be particularly vulnerable to the rigours of travel, such as Oncology, are also being considered for the NHS ‘Near Me' programme, as Dr McKellar added:  “I’m delighted that the start of NHS ‘Near Me’ has gone so well.

“We will pay careful attention to patient and clinician feedback during this phase and make sure that any teething problems are addressed.

“Our intention is then to extend this to cancer clinics in collaboration with our oncology colleagues in Raigmore, to ensure that, where possible, these patients do not have to make unnecessary journeys.”