Since 2019, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL) dermatologists have adopted the use of Consultant Connect for taking and sharing IG-secure and GDPR-compliant dermatology images within the trust.
The service was initially made available to support UHL’s inpatients admitted with dermatological emergencies. Seeing the benefits of the service, the trust’s dermatology team then expanded the use of Consultant Connect in an outpatient setting – enabling dermatologists to take patient photos and share these within their team.
Once shared, the photos taken via the service are accessible by relevant clinicians throughout the patient’s care journey to help monitor condition changes and support treatment and surgery.
The service is also used as part of the trust’s CPD programme, with cases being discussed routinely as part of their training of registrars and nurses.
In the last 12 months, over 25,000 photos have been taken and shared by the dermatology team at UHL via Consultant Connect.
Supporting safer surgery:
Using Consultant Connect has become the gold standard within the dermatology team at UHL. That’s why taking and sharing safe clinical photos via Consultant Connect is incorporated as part of the bookings process for all patients undergoing surgery for suspected skin cancer and as an alternative way to reduce the risk of clinical error, such as wrong site surgery. This means the clinician can search for and review the patient’s images and notes on the Consultant Connect platform before and during surgery.
A dermatologist at UHL who uses the service comments:
‘Dermatology services are changing, and some patients will have their procedures performed by community providers. So, having a system like Consultant Connect will add a layer to the Swiss cheese model and help perform safer surgery.’
Contact us:
If you have any questions or want more information about how our services can support your NHS area, email hello@consultantconnect.org.uk or call us on 01865 261 467.
Related materials:
- The UK’s most used teledermatology platform
- Read about our Devon project in NHSX Dermatology Digital Playbook
- Read about our Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust project in NHSX Dermatology Digital Playbook
- Read about our project in Leeds in NHSX Dermatology Digital Playbook
