13 October 2015
A smartphone app that enables consultants and doctors-in-training to give day-to-day feedback on medical training has won an innovation award.
The Healthcare Supervision Logbook Smartphone App was named as a joint winner in the digital health category of the NHS Medipex Innovation Awards at a ceremony in Leeds.
The judges found that the app could contribute to better patient care through improvements in medical education.
The app was developed by a team at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, with support from Health Education Yorkshire and the Humber. It allows both supervisors and trainees to give regular feedback on training from their perspective, keeping a continuing record of medical training occurring in each department and helping to make training more responsive.
The team will now get £10,000 to invest in developing the project further.
The concept and content was developed by Dr Thomas Gray, a Speciality Registrar in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Clinical Education and Leadership Fellow, Professor Tom Farrell, a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, and Dr Gill Hood, Director of Medical Education at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, before being professionally built.
Dr Gray said: “We are so proud to have been selected as finalists and to have won an award at the Medipex NHS Innovation Awards. So much work has been put into the Healthcare Supervision Logbook by Professor Farrell, Dr Hood and myself and we are very excited about taking the project forward and developing it more widely.”
Traditionally feedback was provided by trainees on an annual feedback form, but the app enables it to be recorded on a daily basis, which means it is more accurate and enables areas for improvement to be identified more quickly.
It took 2 1/2 years to develop and is already in use in the obstetrics and gynaecology departments at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals. It was also adopted in anaesthetics in August and is currently being prepared for use in a number of different departments.
The Medipex NHS Innovation Awards and Showcase aims to identify individuals and teams working for the NHS whose ideas or inventions have led to improvements in services and patient experience. Digital Health was a new category this year.
ENDS
Picture caption: Dr Thomas Gray receives the award
MEDIA CONTACT:
John Birch, Communications Officer
Tel: 0114 226 8989
Email: john.birch@sth.nhs.uk