NHS Direct could soon be setting up an online social care ‘wiki’ that would allow patients to learn from one another about coping with illness and where to obtain support and services.
The idea, part of a submission made to the Department of Health’s consultation into its out of hospital care White Paper and announced at a stakeholder conference in London this week, is one of several ways in which NHS Direct is aiming to become a ‘one-stop’ point of access to out-of-hours services.
"We need to strengthen our contacts in the areas of lifestyle and social care," said Dr Mike Sadler, medical director of NHS Direct, adding there was a wealth of local knowledge waiting to be tapped. "We propose a social care interactive forum. We recognise from the success of Wikipedia there’s a vast community of expertise out there."
A wiki, which comes from the Hawaiian word for ‘quick’, is a structured series of webpages that allows any user to edit the content. The online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, written and verified solely by internet users, is the most well-known.
Dr Sadler stressed that users should not be able to amend clinical advice. But users could input information about coping with illness and services available to those with long-term conditions – such as where patients who have undergone chemotherapy can obtain wigs: "We have to find ways to make patient feel more empowered in their own self care and their own disease management."
Dr Sadler told E-Health Insider that in terms of social care, expertise often rests within users, and that they should have the ability to come onto NHS Direct and write about their experiences and tips. "Some of the self-help groups have similar kinds of things," he said. "Some of the answers to your questions could be local, some of them could be quite generic and national."
NHS Direct’s suggestion, submitted to the DH, is that it should become a single access point to unscheduled care, with patients contacting them and being directed to use the appropriate service.
As well as introducing a wiki, NHS Direct has also suggested becoming more involved in Choose and Book. While plans are already being implemented that allow patients to book their hospital appointments using the service, NHS Direct says it could also support the booking of pre-operative and post-operative care.
Patients could get information about their treatment and condition before entering hospital, and even receive ‘welcome packs’ in their own language describing the procedures.
Dr Sadler said: "The experience of NHS Direct makes clear that telephone services and new media, such as the internet and digital TV, have a key role to play in supporting patient-centred care out of hospital and in helping to improve the patient experience and make better use of NHS resources. We want to be at the centre of future developments in this area."
"There’s always a danger that when you improve healthcare services we widen inequalities," said Dr Sadler. However, as 98% of households in England have a telephone, the phone service should continue to be a main point of contact of the service. "We believe the telephone overcomes those issues."
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