Gastroenterology digital playbook

This resource provides support to clinical teams and organisations that are looking for digital tools to support the delivery of patient pathways. In this playbook, we concentrate on gastroenterology pathways and how to deliver monitoring and support to patients. We welcome feedback on the playbooks, including ideas for further case studies. To get in touch, please email digital.playbooks@nhs.net

Scenarios

I want to optimise the referral and triage process

Includes automating referral vetting to prevent unnecessary referrals and surveillance procedures. Supporting primary care decision making to avoid the need for a specialist referral.

I want to offer remote care and/or monitoring for patients

Includes offering appointments and tests to patients remotely using technology, for example for faecal calprotectin (FC) testing.

I want to offer digital self-management to patients

Opportunities to enable patients to self-manage, record their symptoms and communicate any changes or concerns with their clinical teams, and initiate their own follow-up.

I want to automate the review of test results to create further management plans

Includes using algorithm-driven assessments of results.

I need a way to identify and manage common digestive disorders remotely

Includes irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and food intolerances.

I want to give patients access to their personal health record (PHR)

Permitting patients access to their records from multiple healthcare providers to enable data sharing between different organisations at the patient’s control.

I want to improve the productivity of my outpatient service

Efficiency gains for outpatient services, such as communicating with the GP through intelligent dictation, achieving faster test results, interventions to ensure procedures can be successfully carried out, or improving recording of patient data such as patient reported outcome measures (PROMs).

Pathway

Gastroenterology pathway

Explore case studies at different steps along the gastroenterology pathway

Case studies

Optimising endoscopy surveillance timing through automated vetting

Guy’s and St Thomas’ Trust hosts a framework to enable the automated vetting of some endoscopy requests with the aim of optimising endoscopy surveillance timing.

Non-face-to-face delivery of an inflammatory bowel disease service

An electronic patient portal permits inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) service to deliver remote care and self-management while restructuring service to tackle long waiting times.

Using an algorithm to improve the interpretation of liver function tests

Using an algorithm to improve interpretation of liver function tests

NHS Tayside uses automated blood sciences laboratory infrastructure to detect liver disease at an early stage, potentially saving thousands of lives.

Patient self-management of inflammatory bowel disease with a smartphone app

Barts Health NHS Trust and King's College Hospital NHS Trust in London explored how technology can help people manage their Crohn’s and colitis day-to-day using remote support in response to the impact of COVID-19.

Using smartphone technology to fast-track faecal calprotectin test results

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust used smartphone technology to process faecal calprotectin (FC) test results in hours to support clinical decision making.

The impact of introducing faecal calprotectin monitoring at home during the COVID-19 pandemic

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust used smartphone technology to permit patients to obtain their own faecal calprotectin (FC) result at home.

Capturing patient reported outcome measures using a digital tablet

Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation wanted to enable patients to directly record their own outcome measures (PROMs) on a digital tablet in clinic.

Remote monitoring facilitates the management of inflammatory bowel disease

Luton and Dunstable University Hospital used technology to enable the remote management of IBD patients.

Giving inflammatory bowel disease patients access to their personal health record

Giving patients with intestinal failure access to their personal health record

St Mark’s Hospital wanted to give all patients access to their personal health record to improve information sharing across healthcare providers.

Using intelligent automation to improve the triage and referral management pathway

NHS Lothian wanted to automate the triage of referrals to the gastroenterology service thereby releasing clinician time to be spent with patients.

Successful implementation of remote video consultations for patients receiving home parenteral nutrition

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust’s intestinal failure unit (IFU) used telemedicine to deliver care to home parenteral nutrition (HPN) patients across a wide geographical area.

Remote monitoring of patients with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, IBS and food intolerances

Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust used technology to provide at-home breath testing services.

Improving the efficiency of referrals by optimising use of advice and guidance to GPs

Portsmouth Hospital has optimised its use of advice and guidance (A&G) in the NHS e-RS system in order to reduce unnecessary referrals to its gastroenterology service.

Using an AI-driven dictation platform to free up clinicians’ time

The gastroenterology team at King’s have been using an AI-driven dictation platform to decrease the turnaround time for all of their medical letters.

Using patient education videos to improve quality of bowel preparation for colonoscopy

West Hertfordshire Hospitals used online patient education videos to improve quality of bowel preparation for colonoscopy.

Using a mobile application to empower neuroendocrine cancer patients

King’s College Hospital used a mobile app to educate patients with neuroendocrine tumours regarding their condition, and enable them to record quality of life and patient-reported outcomes for review by their clinical team.

Gastroenterology webinar

Watch the gastroenterology digital playbook webinar we presented with the British Society of Gastroenterology on 14 September 2021. This webinar is available to watch until September 2022.

Disclaimer

These case studies summarise user and patient experiences, focussing on:

digital solutions along different care pathways
productivity improving digital solutions
how to open source code for health and care organisations

Unless expressly stated otherwise, the apps and digital tools referenced are not supplied, distributed or endorsed by NHS England or the Department of Health and Social Care and such parties are not liable for any injury, loss or damage arising from their use.

All playbook case studies have either passed, or are currently undergoing the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) assessment.

Please note the full legal disclaimer: NHS Transformation Directorate playbook disclaimer