Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust is just one of just 16 sites in the UK to receive the status of Global Digital Examplar.
It means that they will deliver “exceptional care, efficiently, through the use of world-class digital technology and information.” They will also share their learning.
The Trust has partnered with Code Computerlove, as it aims to place Human Centred Design at the heart of its digital solutions.
“Human Centred Design, or design thinking, is an approach to problem solving. At Code we couple this with product thinking and modern engineering to help solve business and user problems. It’s an approach that advocates empathy and learning, and working in collaborative teams,” explained Tom Bradley, design director at Code Computerlove.
“The process starts out with in-depth design research. This research helps the team gain valuable empathy for the user and generate ideas that are tailored to the insights and problems we have observed. Often these kinds of research exercises uncover problems and issues we would never have been told about by a product team in the normal course of a project. Our design activities put the designer and wider team in direct content with the users and remove layers of red tape, un-necessary business needs or misguided assumptions.”
The move is being led by Salford Royal’s director of digital, Rachel Dunscombe. She is also leading the new NHS Digital Academy, established to develop the talents of hundreds of the NHS’s digital leaders.
“I believe the system is pivoting to a new model of wellness, health and care that’s unconstrained using digital, where complexities are removed with the right platforms and skills,” she added.
“Bringing in support from Code, we’ve embarked on a programme of digital innovation, implementing the digital skills and knowledge to drive forward significant advances that will not only deliver improvements for patients accessing NHS services but for health professionals working within it, with smarter, better designed systems to simplify day to day processes.”
They have started with a “100-day sprint” to focus on the hospital’s admissions process, to improve the quality of patient information and the experience of entering at the the admissions stage.
