Event ~ Digital Primary Care Conference: Keeping a foot on the pedal of innovation

Digital Primary Care Conference: Keeping a foot on the pedal of innovation

The Digital Primary Care Conference series has welcomed over 1000 NHS based primary care leaders, 60 sector-leading guest speakers and 50 innovative and forward-thinking event sponsors. Our switch to virtual following the Covid outbreak provided a well-needed platform to discuss rapid tech scale-up challenges and remote consulting best practices. We look forward to continuing this series and providing key policy led updates and innovation.

Back in 2019, the Primary Care (GP) Digital Services Operating Model was published with the aim of embedding the GP IT Futures Framework, nationally commissioned digital solutions, the introduction of Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and addressing the challenges for digitally-enabled general practice.

The Covid-19 outbreak provided a springboard for this model and system-wide transformation projects. The shift to remote consulting was widely regarded as successful with a focus maintained on vulnerable patients.

Our upcoming Digital Primary Care Conference aims to showcase the impressive technology already being harnessed across the primary care sector while opening the debate on the pros, and cons challenges of using emerging technology in a primary health setting.

Key Subjects

As we look to the future, 4 key trends have been identified as key drivers for better, more joined-up services and improved patient care, these trends include:

AI will aid patient flow: Better patient flow management through AI triage can also help shift demand to additional roles created under the Additional Roles Recruitment Scheme. Physios, pharmacists, and social prescribers can answer patient enquiries without the need for GP involvement. Technology can signpost people to the right type of care.
Online triage can mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on people with long-term conditions: Covid-19 was a singular focus for healthcare in 2020, Digital triage can help by managing demand online, freeing up phone-based or face-to-face access channels. It can support the ‘talk before you walk’ ambition of 111 providers, who have been charged with fielding the huge demand being placed on phone-based access routes.
Care home support will become a focus: The pandemic highlighted many systemic faults, and one of the most visible was the challenges for GP service delivery to care homes. Care home visiting must be one of the least efficient ways of delivering care. With cloud-based AI triage systems, care home staff can use an online tool to send urgent requests for GP support. These can then be properly analysed and understood before a decision is made on how best to respond.
Online triage hubs will manage regional demand: GPs are moving to more place-based care, through primary care networks and their own collaboration initiatives. This means that resources can be leveraged to serve the many, not the few. Online triage hubs (or e-hubs as NHS England described them) will provide the backbone for regionally driven care by managing demand across multiple sites. These are already up and running for GPs such as the Haxby Group, which has been singled out by the RCGP for its use of technology in supporting remote triage across multiple sites

Research sources for Digital Primary Care Conference: Keeping a foot on the pedal of innovation: NHS England, NHSX, KingsFund, klinik health caresolutions