Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust has successfully expanded digital patient communications using solutions from engagement specialist and Webex company, Healthcare Communications.
Since September last year, the programme team has revamped the trust’s patient portal, rolled out waiting list validation and implemented digital letters across outpatient services.
These letters were previously managed in paper form by the central booking team and specialist administration teams.
This is a major leap forward for Portsmouth Hospital’s three- year Green Plan
The extensive programme has standardised clinic information, streamlined workflows for staff by replacing manual and time-consuming processes, such as printing and postage, and helped the trust to make significant financial savings.
It is also a major leap forward for Portsmouth Hospital’s three-year Green Plan designed to support the NHS’s target to become the first net-zero carbon healthcare system.
The hospitals reported on the engagement:
- An average of 40,000 digital letters processed monthly, saving approximately 56,000 sheets of paper and £10,200 in postage costs.
- Roughly 1,400 digital appointment amendment requests are received monthly, improving patient experience by removing the need to wait in lengthy hospital call queues.
- Over 53,000 Waiting List Validation survey responses have been returned and counting, with an impressive 11,000 reported within the first 12-hours of their latest cohort launch.
- More than 16,000 patients are now registered for the patient portal, with around 9,800 appointments are added to digital calendars each month as reminder prompts.
The general patient feedback has been extremely positive
Most importantly, the general patient feedback has been extremely positive, particularly on the portal’s convenience and accessibility functionality including the option to translate letter content into 100 languages and have it read aloud in 42.
Patients have also commented that they no longer need family member assistance because their letter can read it aloud and text can be enlarged, as well as the convenience of accessing their letter anytime, anywhere eliminating the risk of misplaced paper letters.
Dr Chris Watts, Consultant Anaesthetist and programme clinical safety lead at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust, said: "We are very proud of the ground we’ve covered so far on our digital patient engagement journey at Portsmouth. A huge amount has been achieved in a relatively short space of time and I think our collaborative approach has played a vital role."
"Representatives from across the trust including clinical, IT and admin, along with the Healthcare Communications team came together to fulfil our new digital strategy. We meet regularly to ensure we keep a good pace and work through issues quickly. The whole team is excited to be focusing on our next priorities to implement patient-initiated follow-up (PIFU) and redesign our SMS appointment reminders to further improve on our patient engagement," Watts concluded.
The extensive programme has standardised clinic information, streamlined workflows for staff by replacing manual and time-consuming processes
Portsmouth’s digital patient communications programme was set out to ensure the region’s population are able to digitally view their information and correspondence based on timely, relevant and safe data.
As well as automating processes to save time so staff can continue delivering excellent care and respond to policies such as the Elective Care Recovery programme that sets out standards for patients waiting for care and the NHS App and Mobile First strategy which aims to achieve better digital adoption and accessible information.
Kenny Bloxham, Managing Director at Healthcare Communications, commented: "Portsmouth has done brilliantly with its digital communications implementation in only a few months. Their engagement rates are some of the highest we have seen among our 140+ NHS partners."
"It’s an excellent example of the difference digital-led communications can make to boost patient satisfaction levels, optimise productivity and release financial savings. We’re looking forward to supporting the trust to elevate its implementation further,” Bloxham concluded.
