100% Digital Leeds is working in partnership with the Primary Care Transformation team in Leeds to enable digital inclusion to be embedded into their delivery plan for recovering access to primary care, and in the implementation of digital tools such as the NHS App and Patchs.
Described as the front door to the NHS, Primary Care is the first point of contact with healthcare services for most people. The use of digital tools can make it easier to access Primary Care services and can give people greater control over their health and care, reducing health inequalities. But unless these benefits are shared by everyone, they can also deepen existing health inequalities and create additional barriers.
The Primary Care Transformation and Improvement Team (PCTI) have been leading improvements as part of the delivery plan for recovering access to primary care with the following actions and outputs:
- Increase the use of the NHS App and other digital channels to enable more patients to access their prospective medical records (including test results) and to manage their repeat prescriptions.
- Increase the number of self-referrals across appropriate services.
- Expand the uptake of Pharmacy First services.
- Implementation of highly usable and accessible online journeys for patients.
- Complete implementation of faster care navigation, assessment, and response.
- Make online registration available in all practices.
100% Digital Leeds worked with the Primary Care Transformation Team to deliver a collaborative NHS App webinar for staff to increase awareness of the features and benefits of the app and to increase understanding of digital inclusion and exclusion. Alongside this the team has delivered digital inclusion awareness workshops with individual Primary Care Network teams to increase confidence and skills of the workforce.
100% Digital Leeds has worked with Primary Care teams to develop screening questions to support staff to have conversations with patients around their digital inclusion needs and signposting them to existing support via the Community Support Directory. Many Primary Care Networks in Leeds are also exploring the opportunity of joining the National Databank to gift data SIMs to patients with low or no internet access.
To increase capacity in delivering digital health support, 100% Digital Leeds has partnered with Virgin Media O2, supporting their Connect More Digital Skills Programme to be piloted in GP Practices across Leeds. Resources and ‘how to’ guides have been developed to support patients with increasing their skills and confidence in using digital health tools.
Working with Primary Care to embed digital inclusion into the rollout of NHS App and Patchs
Increasing skills and confidence
To support the implementation and rollout of the NHS App the Primary Care Transformation Team in Leeds collaborated with 100% Digital Leeds to deliver a NHS app webinar for staff followed by a North East & Yorkshire NHS App Back to Basics Refresher Training session. This was an opportunity for staff to hear more about the benefits and features of the App and increasing their confidence and skills in promoting and offering the App.
Following the webinar 100% Digital Leeds connected with individual Primary Care Networks and delivered a series of digital inclusion awareness workshops. The workshops help staff to have positive digital inclusion conversations with patients to:
- Raise awareness of the digital tools and services available.
- Help patients better understand the potential benefits of using digital tools and services.
- Signpost patients to digital inclusion support at trusted locations in the city, via the 100% Digital Leeds Community Support Directory
100% Digital Leeds worked with GP practices to adapt and tailor the digital inclusion awareness workshops to their individual needs. Where capacity was an issue for practice staff, thirty-minute bitesize sessions were offered across lunchtime slots to maximise attendance. Longer, more interactive workshop sessions were offered where practices were already bringing teams together for monthly ‘TARGET’ training sessions.
“The training has been super useful. I feel more excited about offering this to patients now and can see the real benefits. It’s good knowing where in the community is offering support such as free data and devices, I can now share this with my patients.”
Clinician at Lingwell Croft Medical Practice.
Increasing understanding of patients’ digital inclusion needs
100% Digital Leeds is working with Primary Care teams to trial the use of digital inclusion specific patient screening questions, helping staff to have conversations with patients around their digital inclusion needs. Asking the right questions can help staff to better understand the patient’s needs, identify any additional barriers, and help them to make an informed choice about how they access services. After asking these questions, clinicians can use 100% Digital Leeds’s Community Support Directory to identify the right support for each patient.
Patients are asked questions when offered digital tools, and these questions can be used by clinicians within existing interactions. The questions revolve around three areas:
- Fact Finding: what is already used and what are the barriers?
- What digital equipment do you have or currently use? (if any)
- If you don’t currently use digital, why not?
2. Raising Awareness: what is available and what are the personal benefits?
- Did you know you can use the NHS app to order your prescriptions?
- Would you like to hear more about how you could save time when making appointments?
3. Next steps: what support is needed and where to get this support.
- If you were to use these (digital tools), what support would you need?
- Do you know where you can get digital support in the community?
Increasing access to devices and data
100% Digital Leeds is supporting Primary Care Networks (PCN’s) to join the National Databank to gift data SIM cards to patients with low or no internet access. The SIM cards come with free 4G data, texts, and calls. 100% Digital Leeds is working with teams to identify the staff best placed to manage SIM gifting, including those staff who are having conversations about the digital inclusion needs of patients, and those who can signpost to further digital skills support if needed alongside a SIM card. Social Prescribing teams and the Primary Care ARRS roles within the PCN’s have been found to be particularly well placed to gift SIM cards. Where patients don’t have access to a digital device the teams are using the 100% Digital Leeds Community Support Directory to signpost patients to organisations lending or gifting devices.
Increasing capacity to deliver digital inclusion support
100% Digital Leeds has partnered with Virgin Media O2 (VMO2), as part of their Connect More Digital Skills Programme to be piloted in GP Practices across Leeds. The programme enables staff to use their employer supported volunteering hours to deliver digital drop-in sessions within Primary Care settings, to help people to use digital health tools. Each staff volunteer taking part in the programme completes Digital Unite’s Digital Champion training prior to the sessions, and is offered the opportunity of a variety of sessions at different GP Practices in Leeds.
100% Digital Leeds has coordinated the sessions based on individual practice’s implementation plans for the rollout of Patchs and the NHS App, identifying practices that would benefit from hosting these sessions, offering opportunities for patients to access digital support and gain greater awareness of the tools alongside the timeline of the practice’s digital launches. 100% Digital Leeds worked with VMO2 to tailor the sessions to the individual practice’s needs, co-producing a guide for practices to support with preparation and promotion.
The first sessions were piloted with Diamond Medical Group within the Central North Primary Care Network. Patients received one-to-one support with signing up for the NHS App, ordering prescriptions, accessing Patchs, and managing their appointments. 35 patients were supported in the first two sessions, with positive feedback from both practices and patients.
“Without someone to help me, there’s no way I could have done it on my own. It was nice to have someone to sit with me and show me how to use it. It’s made it feel so much more understandable, I struggle to remember things so having the How To… guide helps me go back to what I’ve learnt today.”
Patient supported with the NHS App at a digital drop-in session at North Leeds Medical Practice.
After the success of the pilot, 100% Digital Leeds is coordinating the next series of sessions with VMO2 at practices within the York Road Primary Care Network, supporting their launch of Patchs.