Near Me support rolled out

Thousands of Lanarkshire people have received vital support during lockdown via a new health and social care‘virtual superstructure’.

NHS Lanarkshire Near Me is cutting edge technology that allows health and social care providers to offer secure video call access to their services as part of their day-to-day work.

Instead of travelling to their appointment, patients or service users enter an online waiting area from their computer, smartphone or tablet.

The service is notified when they arrive, and a health or social care provider joins the virtual consultation.

At the turn of the year – and following successful testing and trials – Near Me was in the formative stages of a wider roll-out to various primary, community and hospital care settings.

With the onset of the cOVID-19 pandemic, however, the scale up was accelerated as part of a robust emergency response.

From 75 consultations in February, Near Me use has grown to over 10,000 virtual consultations since early March. As well as clinical consultations, the technology can also be used to maintain vital links and help people avoid social isolation.

From new mums to care home heroes, Near Me has kept people connected to vital support during cOVID.

Laura Kerr, a breastfeeding support service assistant of NHS Lanarkshire’s infant feeding support team, said: “Restrictions have meant we don’t travel to new parents as we’d normally do. The introduction of Near Me, however, has not only kept us connected and saved us from travelling a lot of miles, it’s also meant we can connect to the video call at the exact time the baby needs fed, which we can’t always manage on community visits.

“Dads are particularly enjoying playing a part as camera man! I initially thought it would feel very unnatural.

“However, a few seconds into the call, it feels quite normal. I also think because the parents have the time organised for their call, they are ready to feed and very relaxed. I feel that mums are managing to get their baby attached quickly with our guidance.”

The TEc service is hosted by South Lanarkshire Health and Social care Partnership (HScP).

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