The goal of digitalising healthcare was to streamline the NHS, reduce waste and create more transparency. Instead the ultimate catalyst for change was a 0.125 micron virus first reported in Wuhan, China.
IT and NHS are interesting bed fellows. One cannot exist without the other. The NHS is a behemoth with many tentacles, as well as curious idiosyncrasies. The variety of software solutions available is mind boggling. When it works, it is genius, "how did we manage without it" and when it doesn't, all hope is lost and one wishes for the good old days of scribbling everything on carbon copy paper or sending a faxsimile.
For me digital access has meant no long, unnecessary commutes by car. Spending more time talking to patients than spent on administration. Less stress compared to knowingly having a waiting room full of anxious patients. Texting my patients to phone them at a time convenient to them, not an arbitrary booking system . No patient has had to take time off work, wait on transport and wait in hospital.
So far, I have received no complaints on the nature of telemedicine consultations in the last 3 months. Even the attendance and quality of medical conferences and meetings has improved thanks to Zoom and MS teams and much less carbon footprint to boot.
Leokkhealth 