Tell us about your innovation in a sentence

Patientcheck.in allows patients to check in to the Emergency Department (ED) and tell staff why they are attending – using their own words and a smartphone.

What was the ‘lightbulb’ moment?

Basically, it became obvious almost every aspect of the modern world now works like this. It just makes the current process in most EDs seem ridiculous (I’m sure most patients will agree).

What three bits of advice would you give budding innovators?

1. Speak to as many people as you can. You won’t get very far unless you have convinced at least a few people to lend their support.
2. Don’t take no for an answer. The reality of the NHS is that everyone has a million things do to and almost no time or money to do them. It’s not Google.
3. Plan your next three moves. It’s easy to lose momentum and get bogged down.

What’s been your toughest obstacle?

Navigating the seemingly never-ending complexity of the NHS. It’s like peeling an onion, one layer at a time. When you think you are getting somewhere, you suddenly realise that not only are there another ten layers, but there is a whole sack of onions you didn’t even know about. For example, simultaneously working your way through governance, compliance, data protection and ethics with all the relevant bodies requires both patience and persistence.

What’s been your innovator journey highlight?

The whole journey has been fascinating. I’ve met a lot of  interesting people and I’ve learnt lots of new skills, as well as a better understanding of the logistics and business side of healthcare. It’s a great feeling when you see your idea actually being used and making someone’s life a bit easier.

Best part of your job now?

Having the opportunity to improve patient care in a meaningful way.

If you were in charge of the NHS and care system, what’s the one thing you’d do to speed up health innovation?

Streamline and standardise the compliance framework. In fairness, NHS Digital have made a great start already.

A typical day for you would include…

Well, like most innovators I still have another job. I am a full time clinician, so I guess a busy shift in resus dealing with major trauma and sorting out sick patients. The meetings, writing documents, talking to the developers, managers, IT people and interested parties all happen around my clinical commitments. I wouldn’t have it any other way as this keeps it real.

One of the great things about my job at the HIN is getting the opportunity to work on a   wide variety of projects. I didn’t know much about Personalised Care and Support Plans (PCSPs) prior to this project, but I now think it’s a very exciting, promising and important area being developed in the health and care space. So, I thought I’d share what I’ve learned and what I think future developments might look like.

So, what are PCSPs?

We’re currently seeing a large number of people living longer with complex health conditions and health needs. Collaborative personalised care and support plans are essential tools to effectively support these citizens. PCSPs let people manage their condition while still doing what’s important to them, and still getting the most out of their lives. This may mean something different for everyone for example, planning in time for an individual to take their dog for a walk, or to walk to the post office for exercise, or to generally keep a level of independence. In short, they do exactly what they say on the tin – it’s a care plan which is uniquely personalised to each individual.

What’s the benefit of PCSPs?

PCSPs cross over the health and social care spaces, it’s not just medical professionals who can access a patient’s PCSP but also social care professionals. This means they can bridge what’s historically been a tricky communications gap and make sure everyone relevant to a person’s care can access the right information quickly and easily.

Having consulted with stakeholders and those in the field to determine what makes a good PCSP and what capabilities a digital solution should have to support the entire PCSP process, I’ve come to realise just how much potential these solutions have.

Good PCSP solutions should allow a focus on what matters to the person, they should be outcomes based, shareable and able to be reviewed regularly. PCSPs consider individuals’ wants and their lifestyle and work them into the care plan. Digital PCSP solutions then capture all this information and store it in one place that is owned by the patient and can be accessed by them and by their healthcare professionals.

Why the HIN was involved

This piece of work came about when our colleagues at Kent Surrey Sussex AHSN asked us to work on two workstreams from NHSEI’s digital personalised care programme. The aim of one of the workstreams was to define which capabilities and requirements the PCSP digital solutions should have to help support health and social care staff and patients. NHSEI then wanted to embed these requirements to ensure consistency across suppliers – meaning that when a commissioner wants to purchase a PCSP solution, they can be confident that it has all the necessary capabilities, and that the quality is consistent.

What’s next in the PCSP space?

There are a lot of personal health record solutions out there already which are doing a great job of supporting citizens, but I think PCSPs will take this further as we start to use them more, as people will be able to edit some of their information and therefore really take ownership of their care plans. This is still a new space, but from engaging with industry on this project I can see a lot more solutions emerging over the next few years, and I’m really excited to see how they develop.

I see the future of PCSPs creating a more collaborative way of working between citizens and healthcare professionals. People will be able to go into their plan, update certain fields and document any big changes that might affect their care. These plans are also dynamic, meaning that both citizens and professionals can think about actions they’ve taken, what worked and what didn’t, and update them accordingly.

Keeping the person at the centre of their PCSP process means that they’re equal partners in the care planning process. I think that this will see better outcomes because people have ownership of their own plan, and because the plan takes their whole life into consideration, not just their condition. I’m really looking forward to seeing how PCSP digital solutions develop to improve care planning for both citizens and health and social care professionals, I’ll be watching this space closely!

Tell us about your innovation in a sentence:

Using Artificial Intelligence to support everyone in accessing mental health tools.

What was the ‘lightbulb’ moment?

I was working as a mental health nurse in services and doing some co-design work with a patient when it just hit us, something has to change. There are not enough therapists to support the number of people coming through services, we have to make mental health and wellbeing more accessible.

What three bits of advice would you give budding innovators?

1. Get networking – social media can be your friend so learn how to use it within your professional code.
2. You don’t know what you don’t know – and it’s okay to admit it. Don’t be afraid to say when you don’t understand something.
3. Look after yourself – there is a culture in innovation and start ups that you must work your fingers to the bone. Take time to look after yourself or you will burn out.

What’s been your toughest obstacle?

AI is a very emerging technology, particularly within the mental health sector. Services are rightly concerned with risk and safety so it was important that we spent a lot of time getting the clinical safety case as strong as it can be.

What’s been your innovator journey highlight?

Being the first Mental Health AI application to be awarded an AI in Healthcare Grant by NIHR and NHSX.

Best part of your job now?

Being at the forefront of developmental changes in my profession and helping to shape the future of the UK mental health offering.

If you were in charge of the NHS and care system, what’s the one thing you’d do to speed up health innovation?

Have a single place where everyone across the country can go to find out about the innovations available.

A typical day for you would include…

Lots of online meetings, calls and paperwork as well as a good walk with my dog Arty so I can take a break from my screen.

Where can we find you?

Visit our website www.wysa.io or follow us on Twitter @wysabuddy or myself personally @Emmyselby