Good medicine needs good communication. This is most important in the arena of Public Health. Ensuring messages about how to access healthcare and how to interpret symptoms are key to influencing how patients use the services on offer. Getting the patient to see the right person, in the right place, at the right time is a mantra the NHS has adopted over the last few years. This is mainly a drive to increase NHS efficiency and it starts from the first symptom. Should you book directly with a GP, seek advice from a pharmacist, book a physiotherapy appointment, or use an over-the-counter treatment? The majority of information flow used to come through television and radio with leaflets in waiting rooms and posters as part of billboard campaigns. However in the digital world this is changing fast. Almost everyone less than 55 has a smartphone and uses the Internet several times every day. They therefore have a small powerful computer in their pocket that they use to harness information about any question they choose to ask. The drive to be able to do everything from the palm of your hand is immense and will become even greater. Over the next 5 years the NHS will continue to embrace this technology: all GP surgeries will be offering on-line appointments, e-mail consultations and turning their paper notes into digital files that patients can download. For us at Wyndham House this will not change very much as we have already achieved most of the recently published digital targets. We are the first practice in the South West to have all our notes reduced from a room full of paper to a 2cm x 2cm Memory stick. We will continue to produce information via all routes but the emphasis will continue to change to electronic (our digital display in the waiting room being an example of this).
However we must all recognize that the use of smart phones decreases significantly with age. It is estimated that about a third of adults > 75 years have never used the Internet. It can be scary and it is a revolutionary change. I still clearly remember starting medical school in 1986 when libraries and encyclopedias were the source of almost all information. Like a new language, digital communication is hard to learn the older you are. So for those who wish to take up the challenge The Friends of Wyndham House in conjunction with Room4U are in early stages of planning some introductory ‘How to use the Internet’ teaching sessions.
Wyndham House will remain fully bilingual but encourages anyone hesitant about digital communication to pass on details of our website and our App to your younger relatives. They will be able to help you find information and order medication quicker via these routes. Good communication needs to use all possible routes and this leads to even better medicine for everyone.
Anthony O’Brien
Parish Magazine article March 2019