Associate feature: Working in Partnership to Drive Digital Transformation in Healthcare

We know that pressure is rising across the sector to do more with fewer resources and urgent change is needed. We help our customers make best use of resources and investments by enabling efficiency and resilience in their daily operations and future focus. Here we share how Sword is driving digital transformation in partnership with health organisations to achieve sustainable, valued outcomes. 

Streamlining Multi-Disciplinary Team processes 

The West of Scotland Cancer Network and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde engaged Sword to address complexity impacting the management and decision-making processes around Multi-Disciplinary Teams (MDT). The process for cancer pathways and the coordination of MDT meetings is crucial for providing optimal care to patients. Challenges included managing multiple disciplines and collating accurate information to ensure the right cases are discussed with a trusted and complete set of data in place.

Working with several teams including eHealth, Sword developed and implemented a solution that streamlines referral processes and structures the data, increasing immediate access to trusted data flowing from MDT meetings. Outputs are now sent directly to electronic patient records and distributed immediately to primary and secondary care providers to advance patient care plans. The solution empowers healthcare professionals with an intuitive interface, simplifying the management of cancer referrals and facilitating collaborative decision-making using trusted clinical data.

Healthcare professionals and patients see the transformative impact of Sword’s MDT Cancer Referral App. The ability to provide real-time advice and streamlined decision making enhances patient pathways. Meetings are more likely to reach a positive outcome due to easier management of pre-meeting workloads, smarter task allocation, and all cases now having radiology reviews available in advance. The clinical teams leading the development believe this could be scaled to provide national MDT data and a ‘Once for Scotland’ solution.

Supporting efficient discharge management

Hospital bed management in Scotland is a critical aspect of healthcare, ensuring patients receive timely and appropriate care. Challenges in bed management include seasonal fluctuations in patient numbers, increasing prevalence of chronic conditions, and the need for specialised care for an aging population. Addressing these challenges requires continuous improvement in processes, investment in healthcare infrastructure, adoption of innovative solutions to enhance patient flow, and the efficient use of resources.  

NHS Highland faced high rates of delayed discharge during 2024. The health area is home to 4% of the adult population in Scotland, but during that same period, accounted for 10% of all delays nationally. In partnership with NHS Highland, Sword redeveloped and enhanced a digital solution that provides a central place for acute and community teams to see real-time patient data. Information includes their likely discharge date alongside their level of function and goals, to enable community teams to determine the most appropriate next step, such as further rehabilitation in a community hospital settling, ‘Discharge to Assess’, or home with a package of care to support. This trusted information is transforming the flow of patients from hospital back into the community with suitable patient-centric care.  

Enabling efficiency in National Primary Care

The National Primary Care Clinicians Database (NPCCD) provides a single version of truth for key data held by territorial Health Boards in Scotland for General Practice and Optometry primary care independent contractor groups, with Dentistry to follow. NPCCD supports various NHS systems, reports and processes for verification, payment, and national data extracts. It publishes quarterly updates on GP details and list sizes, aiding in workforce planning and demographic analysis. NPCCD supports high quality data capture, maintenance, reporting and visibility, ultimately enhancing the accuracy and reliability of primary care data. 

Sword played a crucial role, working in partnership with the Scottish Government and NHS Scotland to design and implement the solution, ensuring it meets the needs of relevant stakeholders, particularly Health Boards. Sword created a robust cloud-hosted data management system, integrating various data sources, and developing user-friendly interfaces for clinicians and administrators. Sword’s user-centred design approach supported collaboration with and between NHS National Services Scotland, NHS Education for Scotland, NHS 24 and all 14 territorial Health Boards in Scotland. 

Sustainable Partnerships

At Sword, we focus on delivering sustainable, valued solutions that help our customers to meet strategic outcomes.  We embed meaningful change, enabled by technology and delivered in genuine partnership. To talk to us about how Sword can help drive your digital transformation ambitions, please contact Public Sector Industry Lead, Colleen Henderson: colleen.henderson@sword-group.com 

This article is sponsored by Sword Group. 

www.sword-group.com/ukpublicsector

LinkedIn: @Sword_UK