Saturday 21 December 2024
Internal Reference Number: FOI_8153
Date Request Received: 11/09/2024 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 07/10/2024 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: Using technology to support care to support Children's care
Request Category: Students (Educational)
| Question Number 1: The Transformation Directorate’s website indicates that the NHS is increasingly using technology to support care, with such technologies including virtual wards, apps, remote monitoring technologies, patient portals, and telemedicine devices. Examples of technology being used to support children’s care are provided on some trusts’ websites. A limited number of examples of how such technologies are being used to support children’s care are also outlined on the Transformation Directorate’s website. There appears to be no comprehensive database for the public to access which outlines the technologies and apps that are currently being used to support children’s care. The posts which I have read which discuss how the NHS is using virtual wards, apps, remote technologies, patient portals and telemedicine devices, provide no information concerning what parents and children are told about how their data will be used or whether parents are able to opt out of such technology use. Please can you therefore provide details of a. whether (as at August 2024) any of the following are used by the trust to support children’s care: telehealth and telemedicine technologies, MHealth apps, health information technologies, remote monitoring technologies, digital healthcare devices, wearable devices and telemedicine devices and/or any other technologies designed to facilitate personalised medicine not detailed above b. The names/details of technologies being used c. The purposes for which such technologies are being used. NB we are not asking for detailed information about the operation or implementation of these technologies, but merely the broad purposes for which they are being used. | |
| Answer To Question 1: The SaLT team for children with cleft lip & palate use Trust based DrDoctor for telemedicine/videotherapy. https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/video-consultations/ The only other technologies we have are standalone instrumental therapy devices that use a laptop/tablet for visual feedback. These do not store any personal information. Child Health response: 1a Yes we are using health technologies 1b and 1c Glooko – we upload diabetes devices to this website and patients can also upload from home – so that we can review their diabetes information virtually Medtronic Carelink – patients upload their diabetes information from Medtronic medical devices and give us permission to look at it Mylife – an app to help with diabetes management. Patients can use it for day to day management and then can send us a report via email (a PDF file) Diabetes M – an app that patients can use to help manage their diabetes – patients can share their records with us Vcreate – enables patients to share photos and videos with clinical teams securely – and we use it on NICU to share video of babies securely with parents who might not be able to visit Nuvoair – collects data about asthma management Drdoctor – telemedicine software to help with communicating to patients about appointments and to facilitate video clinics | |
| Question Number 2: In your trust, please can you advise what information clinicians are given about how data collected by such technology is processed, for what purposes, and with whom it is shared. Again, we are asking for information in broad terms e.g. whether information is shared with commercial entities/third parties and the status of those entities ie technology provider but not the names of those entities. | |
| Answer To Question 2: DPIAs are conducted within the Trust where personal identifiable information is held/processed or transferred - please see link to list of DPIAs completed on the Trust website - https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/about-us/data-protection-impact-assessments/ | |
| Question Number 3: Please can you confirm what information doctors and other health professionals in your trust give/are advised to give to child patients and/or their parents about the benefits and risks of using such technology generally/specifically | |
| Answer To Question 3: Attached Child Health report: DrDoctor https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/video-consultations/ To accompany this answer to question 3 please also see the documents listed below:  Example_NuvoAir UK new patient referral form.pdf Patient information slip_Salisbury_Oct 2023_SG edit.pdf Salisbury NHS Trust_Terms of Engagement_NuvoAir_Asthma Assessment Pilot_11 Oct 23.pdf | |
| Question Number 4: Please can you confirm what information doctors and other health professionals in your trust give/are advised to give to child patients and/or their parents about how data collected by such technology is processed, for what purposes, and with whom it is shared. | |
| Answer To Question 4: https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/about-us/your-patient-information-privacy-notice/ - Children's Privacy Notice | |
| Question Number 5: Please can you provide copies of all policies and documents that have been developed by or within the trust with a view to ensuring that when NHS staff are advocating the use of such technology, children and parents’ information is processed in accordance with the UKGDPR. | |
| Answer To Question 5: Please see attached. To accompany this answer to question 5 please also see the documents listed below: Data Protection Policy - SFT version (Final).pdf Information Governance Policy - SFT (Final).pdf | |
| Question Number 6: Please can you advise what information is currently provided within your trust for the child patients and their parents to refer to should they have any queries about how data collected by such technologies is used and by whom. | |
| Answer To Question 6: https://www.salisbury.nhs.uk/about-us/your-patient-information-privacy-notice/ | |
| Question Number 7: Please can you advise what advice is provided to clinicians in your trust about the response they should give where a child patient or their parent does not wish to use such technologies/wishes to opt out of data collection or sharing related to the use of such technologies. | |
| Answer To Question 7: Attached Child Health report- All use of health related technology for children comes with a discussion about benefits and risks and it is never used without patient or parent engagement and consent. If parents opt out of using a particular technology then an alternative way of providing care would always be found. I am not aware of any specific guidance for clinicians about this other than general GMC guidance related to good practise. For example – GMC guidance around remote consultations Remote consultations - ethical topic - GMC (gmc-uk.org) To accompany this answer to question 7 please also see the documents listed below: Example_NuvoAir UK new patient referral form.pdf Patient information slip_Salisbury_Oct 2023_SG edit.pdf Salisbury NHS Trust_Terms of Engagement_NuvoAir_Asthma Assessment Pilot_11 Oct 23.pdf | |
| Please see Attachments: | |
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Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
