DrDoctor has launched a free Covid-19 toolkit for NHS trusts to help support the health service.
The toolkit includes the company’s broadcast messaging and video consultation services along with a digital symptom assessment tracker.
Government measures to cancel all non-essential appointments presented a need for remote consultation capabilities in hospitals and an effective means of communicating any service changes to patients.
DrDoctor’s broadcast messaging and video consultation tools were designed to carry out this process in a quick and simple manner, the company said.
Originally pencilled in for release at the end of this year, DrDoctor accelerated the development and launch of its video software to help alleviate strains on the health service.
While DrDoctor’s Symptom Tracker can send digital assessments to patients to screen for coronavirus symptoms before hospital appointments or on an ad-hoc basis.
The assessments can be also used to identify patients who are potentially ‘shielded’ or ‘vulnerable’ to offer remote consultations.
Tom Whicher, a founder of DrDoctor, said: “We view video as a key part of caring for people in their own homes, thereby keeping them out of hospitals and assisting the NHS on its long road to recovery.
“Beyond the current crisis is a secondary looming threat – the backlog of routine patients who’ve had their care delayed or cancelled. Up to 50% of non-essential care has been cancelled, leaving millions of people waiting for treatment.
“It’s important to explore the solutions hospitals will need to deal with this pent-up demand as we look to the next 6-12 months. Beyond that, it’s likely that healthcare will never look quite the same, so we’ve developing tools to help patients and doctors with the new normal, and tools to care for and treat patients in a new way.”
The London-based patient appointment company has rolled its services across a number of trusts, including Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Frimley Health NHS Trust.
NHS Trusts should visit the DrDoctor website for more information on signing up to the new service.