e-Health Leadership – Cohort 4 completed their cohort in April 2016. At the consolidation day we were knee deep in ideas, sharing or practice and innovation. Some of the cohort have provided some thoughts on their experience for this blog.
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Alice Macleod: Nurse Adviser National Procurement NHS National Services and James Monaghan: Senior Charge Nurse Acute Medical Receiving Glasgow Royal Infirmary NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Collaborative project with:
- GG&C Specialist Oncology Services: Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre
- GG&C Surgical Directorate Glasgow Royal Infirmary
- GG&C Acute Medical Receiving Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Project Title
Evaluation of the use of Spend Analyser to identify non – pay spend
The project will present an opportunity to evaluate Spend analyser which is a reporting tool developed by National Services for budget holders and service managers across NHS Scotland.
Spend analyser presents visibility of non –pay expenditure of products and services.
The aim of this application is to improve the understanding of product spend and help to identify opportunities for savings.
NHS Scotland spends £2.6 billion per annum on goods and services with £400 million per annum that relates to medical products.
Reducing waste and variation in clinical products and service has been identified as a priority area for action within several Scottish Government NHS Policy documents (1-4).
There is an opportunity to use spend analyser data to improve discussion / communication with finance and develop an effective relationship with local procurement. Qualitative methods will evaluate user experience.
The e-health leadership programme has enabled wider clinical engagement to support development of this project and raise the profile of the programme.
Contact information on project:
james.monaghan@gg&c.scot.nhs.uk
References
- Healthcare Quality Strategy for Scotland (2010)
- A Route Map to the vision for Health and Social Care NHS Scotland (2013)
- Small changes big difference: Clinical Supplies- quality, safety and value at the frontline RCN Launch (2015) Nursing Times (2015) vol 111 no 13 http://www.supplychain.nhs.uk/clinical-and-consumables/small-changes-big-differences/
- A review of productivity in NHS Providers: (2015) An independent Review by Lord Carter for Department of Health England
Janice McClymont, Head of Occupational Therapy Profession NHS Lanarkshire
Project: Using technology to re-design Orthopaedic Pre-assessment Patient Education programmes, and support increased self management, activity and functional independence
Comments re eHealth leadership experience: “The potential for the use of technology within healthcare is tremendous, but greatly under-utilised by the majority of Allied Health Professionals. The eHealth leadership course has enabled me to challenge tradition, and start to consider how AHP practice might be delivered differently. It feels very much like the beginning of a new journey, and is both daunting and inspiring. Who knows where the future will take us?Twitter name: JaniceMcCOT
E mail address: janice.mcclymont@lanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk
Nikki Munro, Advanced Specialist Orthotist and Project Manager NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
I applied for the NMAHP ehealth leadership course on recommendation from someone in my own board who was on an earlier cohort and it fit well with my current development plan so I was really pleased on gaining a place. I expected the course to be more eHealth systems or
ientated but for me I found it to be more about leadership and peer support but this is possibly as I already had a good knowledge of eHealth systems already. The one great learning out come for me was being ‘forced’ to get a cisco jabber account and use teleconferencing as part of the structure of the course. This had been on my ‘to do’ for some time but had never come to fruition. Im now comfortable attending phone conferences and webex and have even gained a login so I can start to host these as the time savings are hugely important.
Contact details: @ntmunro
Jenny Cochran. Community Physiotherapist with the Intermediate Care Team, in Taybridgehead, St Andrews, Balmullo, and the East Neuk. NHS Fife
Where to start with my NMAHP eHealth Leadership experience? First of all, it’s important to say that I don’t count myself as a leader in any official capacity…well, didn’t. I suppose that is one of the main themes of this experience: finding that you don’t need to have been ‘awarded’ a certain level of responsibility (and salary, although this would be nice….) to be a leader.
I saw this as an excellent opportunity to develop some leadership skills, but the real reason that I was ‘sent’ on this course in place of my team leader is that I am considered the least techno-phobic member of the team. Apart from anything else, this gives a clue as to the feelings my colleagues have when faced with new technology.
The attempt to move away from pen and paper is difficult for people who did not have google at university, or had to submit essays online (this is actually me!), and the pace of change in a technological sense is still gathering. The technology we do have, and are expected to use, is not of the highest standard given the understandable limitations of the NHS budget. My colleagues are as yet uninspired/frustrated-on-a-daily-basis by what NHS technology has to offer, but they all have smartphones – it’s not that there is a complete dislike for all things computer.
How do we turn this negative view of technology to one where people make use of what we do have/does work rather than lament of how badly things work, how long they take, how unsuitable they are? Without the engagement +/-embracement of our clinicians of new eHealth solutions, there is no value in developing amazing software and fancy hardware for healthcare.
Without someone pushing to improve things locally, no-one will try too hard to get new, up to date equipment with which to use all the new apps and communication systems, so the money invested in the apps or software systems becomes worthless.
Do we wait for the people with the leadership titles to come and sort things out for us? Is this realistic? No. Of course not. So, much to my surprise, I have realised that my team need me to help them make the best of a rapidly changing technological environment. I am important. I can make a difference here. Even without a fancy title. Imagine that?
Alison Baird. MSK Physiotherapy eHealth Lead NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde
Our service moved over to solely using TrakCare by March 2015. This has allowed us to access waiting list, demand and capacity statistics much more easily and closer to real time via a dashboard. We wanted to explore how we could develop TrakCare further to produce outcome measure statistics in the same way, so that our service could also produce reports on our effectiveness.
A questionnaire has been developed on TrakCare which mirrors a paper version that our service has been using for many years. It measures pain, function and work status at the start then the end of treatment, therefore showing the impact of the treatment provided. Previously this information was collected manually which was onerous on clinicians and time consuming to collate and present.
We are now aiming to have this information presented on our existing dashboard (microstrategy) along side the current statistics produced by TrakCare. It is hoped that these statistics can be used at a service level to prove overall effectiveness but also provide clinicians with individual reports on their patients which will allow them to reflect on their own clinical practice, highlight areas of development and celebrate their successes. It is also a first step for our service towards EPR which will be the next big EHealth project we will be taking forward!
Helen Chisholm Nurse Manager Aberdeen City Health & Social Care Partnership (responsible for district nursing & health visiting) NHS Grampian
The NMAHP ehealth leadership programme has given me a much greater insight into ehealth issues across the board, whereas before I was focussed more on the district nursing part of the puzzle without an appreciation of the wider issues. Networking with colleagues from other health boards and disciplines has been an invaluable part of the programme for me, as was gaining confidence in using new technologies and social media for work purposes.
It has given me a framework on which to move forward with a project to introduce SCI Gateway referrals within the district nursing service. This has been a slow process, but I am confident that we will be there soon, and I continue to work with local ehealth colleagues to develop a caseload management tool for community nursing, and am trying to influence the work on data sharing as we move forward with health & social care integration.
AHPs across health and social care. 
Fantastic inspiring stories thanks for this