The Future of Patient Engagement by Tracy Scriven, Director of Healthcare UK.

Holistic - characterised by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account psychological and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease.

 It inspired me to think how WiFi SPARK delivers and provides our platform to the NHS, the true market leader in holistic care. So, as the market leader in providing WiFi services to the NHS, how can we provide a holistic platform, which really is more than just WiFi? A platform that truly suits healthcare organisations as a whole?

 Well my Healthcare friends, it gives me great pleasure to share that WiFi SPARK can now provide a “Patient Engagement Platform” (PEP), which has been designed and built based on feedback from our healthcare customers.

 Firstly, we have a platform which is accessible and simple to use by all the people that come to a hospital including: 

• Patients
• Visitors (Friend and Family)
• Healthcare Professionals and Ancillary Staff,
• Students
• Contractors

We can also recommend hardware options to our customers that can truly provide digital inclusion for all. This is free, impartial advice on hardware options that the NHS can provide for their patients.

Next we reviewed what departments can benefit from our platform. We spoke to Healthcare Professionals, I.T., Facilities, Comms, Patient Experience, PALS, Catering Service, Charities, Retail Outlets and Community Outreach teams. Would they benefit from making it easy for the patient to access existing patient solutions and applications, such as meal ordering, wayfinding, adaptive disability solutions, healthcare applications etc? The answer has always been a resounding ‘Yes!’ Please speak to me to discuss your requirements for a solution that will integrate with, and complement your digital roadmap.

Via our Patient Engagement Platform the above departments can provide relevant communications and educational content to patients in a concise and easy-to-find which will improve patients’ experience at the hospital.

We drew further inspiration from ‘The Code’ – the professional standards of practice and behaviour for nurses and midwives. We considered how our platform can become a tool for healthcare professionals.

Patients and service users, and those who care for them, are encouraged in the Code to provide feedback to nurses and midwives about the care they receive. (NMC, 2015)

• WiFi SPARK can enable access to the Hospital Survey Solution, for example the Friends and Family test via our PEP

Nurses and midwives should promote safe and effective practice in their place of work. (NMC, 2015)

• WiFi SPARK can provide instant access to Educational content and Safety Videos, such as NHS Choices and the Haelo Patient Safety Video.

Nurses and Midwives prioritise people, they encourage and empower them to share decisions about their treatment and care (NMC, 201)

• The SPARK® PEP is not just for patients, family and friends can also use the platform to access education content to assist loved one in make key decisions in their care.

Recognise and respond compassionately to the needs of those who are in the last few days and hours of life. (NMC, 2015)

• Healthcare professional can assist the patient in using video conferencing to speak with loved ones who are abroad or unable to visit. This truly is a beautiful element of our service that we are very proud of. The service is also used in maternity wards to celebrate births with family and friends.

Make sure that any information or advice given is evidence based, including information relating to using any healthcare products or services. (NMC, 2015)

• Using our SPARK® PEP all users have instant access to the latest approved content from NHS Choices and NHS Digital.

Take reasonable steps to meet people’s language and communication needs, providing, wherever possible, assistance to those who need help to communicate their own or other people’s needs. (NMC, 2015)

• The SPARK® PEP can be made available in multiple languages and can provide instant access to a number of communication aids, from communications via pictures, language translation or video signage service for the hearing impaired.

At WiFi SPARK we are honoured to work with more NHS organisations than any other WiFi provider. We genuinely believe in providing more than just WiFi and evolving our platform to be in line with the latest NHS thinking and requirements.

I hope you can see we also deliver more than any other provider and we are the future of patient engagement. Please do get in contact with me to discuss your requirements and how we can work in partnership to assist you in providing the highest levels of care.

Tracy Scriven
WiFi SPARK