NHS Bedfordshire, Luton, and Milton Keynes ICS was created in early 2020 when the previous individual NHS areas merged into one. Since this development, their project in partnership with Consultant Connect has grown year on year. In this article, we look at the key milestones and usage stats since the project’s launch.
Consultant Connect’s groundbreaking technology connects clinicians with UHCW specialists for rapid communication, allowing children to receive diagnoses and treatment plans quicker.
The introduction of the Acute Paediatrics line led to the overall usage of Consultant Connect in Lanarkshire tripling, therefore ensuring patients are treated in the right place for their care the first time. We spoke with Dr David Beattie, the Acute Paediatrics Consultant who helped set up the line, to find out what the catalyst for change was:
We spoke with three NHS consultants who provide Advice & Guidance to find out what types of queries they receive and the benefits this provides.
Meryl Spencer is a Consultant Orthodontist at Morriston Hospital in Swansea Bay University Health Board. Since early 2022, Meryl has been responding to Messaging A&G requests from GPs and Dentists via Consultant Connect.
In April 2022, the rheumatology department at Salford Royal implemented Consultant Connect Telephone Advice & Guidance as a replacement service for their bleep system.
In April 2021, Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn (QEHKL) and Norfolk and Waveney ICB decided to use Consultant Connect’s Referral Triage service to run a pilot project focusing on the first outpatient waiting list for Cardiology.
Consultant Connect was launched in partnership with North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) as a one-year project to assist with Covid-19 pressures.
Dr Shakir talks to us about his personal experience of working on the Referral Triage service:
Dr O’Flanagan and Dr Neuling share the benefits of the new Paediatric 2WW Pathway at the University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire Foundation Trust, available via Consultant Connect.