Transforming the care of older people

In November 2023, the Acute Frailty Team at Dorset County Hospital requested that all pre-referral or admittance communications be directed to them via Consultant Connect, producing a single point of access and allowing for calls to be recorded and patient journeys to be tracked.

‘My patient had been admitted to hospital a couple of times and recently discharged, and I felt she had an underlying deep-seated infection. The patient hadn’t been scanned whilst in hospital, and I felt that a scan without an admission would support my management of her. I called the Acute Frailty line via Consultant Connect, and the consultant geriatrician arranged the scan for the patient as an outpatient without her needing to attend any appointments beforehand. I would have had to admit her if I hadn’t had access to the Acute Frailty line. As a result, this allowed the patient to stay home and avoid an unnecessary admission, improving her care journey and ensuring she got the care she needed fast.’

– Dr Laura Godfrey, GP in Dorset.

Since May 2020, ambulance staff across Welsh Ambulance Services NHS University Trust (WAST) have had access to rapid advice from specialist clinical teams across NHS Wales via Consultant Connect.

‘I often use Consultant Connect and have a lot of examples where using the service has expedited my patient’s care. One involved an elderly patient with complex needs; she had multiple comorbidities, and her daughter was essentially looking after her, and there was no real care package in place. I used the app to speak initially with her GP, then again to speak with one of the consultants at the local hospital. These conversations enabled us to decide that, given the patient’s history, it was best that she remained at home and was looked after from there. Being able to access multiple points of care ensured a safe referral. We were able to improve care provision from within the patient’s home and avoided an unnecessary admission. An admission would have been disruptive and distressing for both the patient’s daughter and the patient.’

– Marcus Viggers, Paramedic for WAST.

Alongside Enhanced Advice & Guidance, the Consultant Connect App also gives ambulance and secondary care clinicians access to the pre-programmed Bypass Numbers feature, allowing users to skip the queue on switchboard and speak directly to staff at local GP practices.

‘Now that I’m a paramedic for a cluster of practices and I conduct the home visits, I always need to contact my patients’ practices for senior opinions or prescriptions. The patients I visit can’t get to their local GP surgery, so they might be bed-bound, due to being frail, elderly, or because of a disability. They often have poor mobility and are generally unwell. I visit them for face-to-face assessments, and if they have worsening symptoms, the Bypass Numbers are brilliant for quickly contacting their GP.’

– Manie Tang, Cluster Paramedic in Wales.