Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has gone live with MyHealthCall Pep, a patient engagement platform, with the first integration allowing patients to access their appointment information.
The solution was delivered by NHS-owned digital health company, Health Call. It will connect patients without outpatient services via the NHS App, allowing them to amend, accept and cancel appointments, view letters and correspondence and access useful resources like hospital maps and parking information.
In addition, appointment reminders and alerts about any potential delays on the day will also be received.
The new solution will help support patients to access the services they need while improving the overall patient experience. It is also hoped it will reduce delays in care as well as missed appointments for the trust.
Graham King, chief information officer at the trust, said: “It is fantastic to see patients at Newcastle Hospitals now being able to access their appointment information digitally…
“This will greatly improve the digital patient journey for those being cared for by the trust, and we will be rapidly expanding its use across our patient services.”
The patient engagement platform was developed by NHS professionals and designed to seamlessly fit with the trust’s operations. Integrating it with the NHS App is part of a wider national programme that is aimed at improving and levelling up NHS App functionality nationally, by linking it with such platforms.
In May 2022 Newcastle Hospitals renewed its partnership with Health Call, in a bid to make digital health tools available to its patients.
Ian Dove, managing director at NHS Health Call, said: “We believe that this integration will revolutionise how outpatient care is delivered for our NHS, and integration into the NHS App is only the very beginning.
“We plan to release further features which will help clinicians streamline care and reduce administrative burden while providing exceptional service for patients.”
Integration to the NHS App is now live in the musculoskeletal clinical, and will be rolled out across the wider trust in the future.