Volunteers at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and South Warwickshire University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are trialling using artificial intelligence (AI) technology provided by Deep Medical to help reduce waiting lists.
Alongside Helpforce, a charity who specialises in optimising how volunteers are deployed in the health service, Deep Medical is training volunteers to use their latest software, ‘Deep Medical Schedules’.
Their aim is to identify patients who are at high risk of missing their appointments and might need additional support, like transport, someone to greet them at the hospital, or to change the date to help ensure they can attend.
Pilot results show, in the first phase of work, there has been a 33% overall increase in the number of attendances and 28.8% reduction in DNA (Did Not Attend) rate compared to before any volunteer calls were made. This equates to an estimated £36,157/week of total added value across both Trusts.
Harkamal Heran, Chief Operating Officer at South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We are pleased to be working in collaboration with Foundation Group partner, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, Helpforce, and Deep Medical to enable us to utilise technology and harness the benefits of artificial intelligence.
"Timely access to diagnostic tests and hospital appointments is crucial in quickly diagnosing and treating illnesses such as cancer.
"Our partnership has enabled us to develop tools to provide volunteers, who are vital in supporting our organisation to provide outstanding patient care, with increased information. With the additional data, these volunteers can assist patients in accessing timely diagnostic tests and appointments, further enhancing our services."
Jane Smyth, a volunteer for George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, “Since we have been making the calls using the Deep Medical system, I feel it is having a tremendous impact on the reduction of DNA’s. Personally, I feel happy to assist in reducing the challenges that some of our patients have in when I’m trying to communicate their individual needs regarding appointments for clinics and procedures.
“In these challenging times for the NHS, it’s crucial to ensure accessibility to healthcare for everyone, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to make a positive impact in the patients’ lives and to improve the reputation and efficiency of the George Eliot Hospital.”
The implementation follows the success of the NHS Foundation Trust trial in Mid-South East Essex, which is now helping to save the Trust £27.5 million*.
Published data shows that of 124.5 million outpatient appointments across the NHS in England last year, eight million (6.4%) were not attended by the patient. It is estimated this level of missed appointments has an annual cost to the NHS of £1.5 billion per year.
Patients often miss clinic appointments through no fault of their own and this can have a detrimental impact on their long-term health. Whether it’s having difficulty getting time off work, language barriers, cultural sensitivities (like wanting to be seen by a female doctor) or being unable to access public transport.
Deep Medical co-founder and NHS doctor Benyamin Deldar, “Volunteers are crucial to the NHS for the future of healthcare and helping to tackle health inequality. They understand their local community better than anyone else and understand the barriers they may face to book an appointment.
“Deep Medical’s advanced AI helps tackle key barriers that prevent patients from attending appointments, such as the inability to afford hospital parking, limited access to rideshare apps, restricted communication outlets, and complex personal schedules. By addressing these issues, the AI ensures that patients have better access to the healthcare they need.
“We are always looking at developing new ways of working to help superpower volunteering using AI and are looking forward to making a difference to patients’ lives - and to getting the waiting lists down.”
Mark Lever, Helpforce Chief Executive said: “Combining forces with Deep Medical is an important development for our charity – really boosting our mission to accelerate the growth and impact of volunteering in health and care.
“We’ve been supporting George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust to pilot and evaluate the impact of volunteers calling people ahead of appointments, and we know that has already reduced missed appointments. With access to Deep Medical’s waiting list AI tool, this is set to significantly increase, with volunteers able to target calls to the people most likely to struggle to get to their appointment. This will improve the system’s efficiency and, most importantly, get often vulnerable people diagnosed and into treatment more quickly, helping to reduce health inequalities.”
The volunteer community is a key part of the NHS and, at South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust, 617 volunteers gave over 31,000 hours of their time last year. Volunteers offer vital support in health and care systems across NHS England. Volunteering is seen as a key enabler in transforming the way the NHS works with people and communities and is an important part of the success of the NHS Five Year Forward View which encourages community volunteering.
Jenni Northcote Chief Strategy, Improvement and Partnership Officer at George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust said: "Our volunteers are truly fabulous, the hours they contribute touch people's lives and make a real difference. In this initiative our volunteers utilise intelligent data to contact individuals who may be struggling to attend appointments and understand the barriers they face in accessing care, or, if they no longer require an appointment, ensure it can be offered to other patients.
“We have seen a fantastic reduction in DNA’s and learned a lot about the issues people face in attending appointments, helping us to develop more patient focused services."
