Appointments via video link
A new room offering hospital patients appointments via a video link has been opened at Western Isles Hospital.
The NHS Western Isles (NHSWI) Patient Centred Care Programme team is delighted with the success of NHS ‘Near Me’, first pioneered by NHS Highland and now a collaborative programme between NHS Highland and NHS Western Isles.
The new service has been developed to provide health care as close as possible to patients’ homes by offering appointments with consultants and other specialists via video link.
The move not only saves patients from travelling to the mainland – often spending a day or more away from home to attend a 10-to-15-minute consultation – but also frees up NHSWI resources for use in front-line care.
NHSWI medical director Dr Angus McKellar said: ‘We are acutely aware we send many patients to the mainland to access health care when we should be providing this locally. This ‘Near Me’ initiative helps us to deliver health care to the patient, instead of delivering the patient to healthcare. Patient feedback has been positive. The ‘Near Me’ initiative is the next step in this becoming mainstream and will initially include patients attending haematology clinics.’
Although NHSWI has used video conferencing for clinics in the past, a dedicated NHS ‘Near Me’ room has been established at Western Isles Hospital, with appointments for island haematology patients now being booked.