Video link helps RAH patients keep in touch
Patients in Paisley’s Royal Alexandra Hospital can now send video messages to family who are unable to visit them thanks to an innovative digital service.
All visiting hours have been suspended during the pandemic to stop the spread of the virus.
To help patients keep in touch with their loved ones, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) has now set up a secure video service to help keep families connected.
The vCreate service was first developed in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Hospital for Children at the Queen Elizabeth in Glasgow.
Now due to the coronavirus pandemic, it has been expanded for use in adult ICUs across NHSGGC and more widely in Scotland.
The service allows nurses and doctors to record video messages that are uploaded to a secure platform for family members to view.
Dr Neil Patel, consultant neonatologist at the Royal Hospital for Children, was instrumental in getting the video messaging service up and running in 2017 and has seen its use expanded.
It is now being used in neonatal units at the Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow, Princess
Royal Maternity Hospital, Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Paediatric Intensive Care at Royal Hospital for Children Glasgow and adult Intensive Care Units at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow Royal Infirmary and
Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
Dr Patel said: “Families have told us that receiving videos of their loved one reassures them and makes them feel less anxious.
“It also helps to involve them in their baby’s care and strengthen their relationship with the team in the hospital.
“For us, it makes such a difference to be able to help keep families connected and capture all of those special moments they might otherwise miss.
“The neonatal team have created thousands of videos. They have become a normal part of our care, but each is personalised for the family who receive them.
“It’s now terrific to see the service extended to adult intensive care units all over Scotland during the current pandemic, supported by the Scottish Government.”
The innovative video service has also been praised by Cabinet Secretary for Health Jeane Freeman.
She said: “These are deeply unsettling and anxious times for everyone, but for families whose loved ones are in hospital it can be especially worrying.
“This use of digital technology is another example of our health service adapting quickly and intelligently to the challenges of dealing with this virus.”