Launch of Virtual Healthcare consultation service
A free virtual healthcare consultation service www.doctorinthehouse.net has been launched this week to help at home patients who may be finding it difficult to see a medical expert due to the current lockdown.
The service provides a safe healthcare service that links worried patients to at-home healthcare professionals.
The idea behind “doctorinthehouse” is to ease the pressure on the NHS services during the COVID-19 outbreak and to give patients first-hand consultations in the safety of their own home. Doctorinthehouse has the ability to scale up to match any patients needs, therefore, freeing up resources in the NHS.
This free online service is recruiting registered doctors (including GPs, urgent care doctors and specialists) as well as specialist nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and other professionals. Accredited professionals are requested to sign up and volunteer their time, from as little as 20-minutes at a time. doctorinthehouse.net is seeking clinicians who are working from home, self-isolating, or between shifts.
The main goal of doctorinthehouse.net is to supply 100,000 online assessments and 25,000 online appointments by mobilising over 200 at-home clinicians as soon as possible through its website.
doctorinthehouse.net is a highly proficient scheduling video conferencing system which allows patients notes to be securely passed over by using a front end AI diagnostic tool.
This at-home service was set up by British A&E doctor, Dr DJ Hamblin-Brown, who is a member of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and works at consultant level in A&E within the NHS.
His principal interest is in the link between culture, technology and patient safety. Dr DJ Hamblin-Brown explains ‘This new service will not cost the NHS a penny.
By volunteering, or by using doctorinthehouse.net as a patient, you are freeing up NHS resource for someone who needs it. This is the phrase we all hear in an emergency: is there a doctor in the house?
This is that moment. Doctors: please come forward and sign up to volunteer your time. The NHS is moving towards an improvement in telemedicine - but not fast enough.”
How does the service work?
1. Doctor in the House offers a virtual consultation service, linking ‘at home’ clinicians with patients who cannot otherwise get advice due to the lockdown.
2. It checks the applications of all clinicians to ensure that they are appropriately registered with their professional body and that they are suitably insured.
3. It provides the scheduling platform, access to an online video conferencing system, as well as a secure note-taking and patient handover capability.
4. It allows the clinician to make their availability known via a public booking website.
5. Patients can book a 20-minute slot for a free consultation with a professional. Both patient and professional will receive an email with a conference-call link. Ideally, the patient will have completed an AI-driven self-assessment in advance.
6. Clinicians can make themselves available for as much or as little time as they wish - from a single 20-minute slot to an entire day. The scheduling platform also allows total flexibility, so that clinicians can specify regular availability, or register themselves day-by-day.
With healthcare technology improving daily due to the COVD-19 outbreak are AI, virtual and online assessments the way forward to help keep our NHS system, safe and secure?