The Surrey, West Sussex and Hampshire (SWSH) Cancer
Network is using video conferencing to enable senior medical staff
to spend more time with patients.
The network, which is the centre of cancer expertise for the
three counties, has equipped its specialists with video
conferencing facilities so that less time is spent travelling
between meetings.
So far, 40 cancer specialists working at 14 sites have been
equipped with the technology. The system has achieved the objective
of reducing travelling times, and the specialists have subsequently
been able to increase the number of patients being treated by the
cancer network.
Since the release of the Calman-Hines best practice guidelines
for cancer care, specialist doctors and nurses have had to meet to
discuss each patient's treatment.
These multi-disciplinary meetings have improved patients'
chances of recovery, but have reduced the time available for direct
patient contact, as specialist medical staff travel between
hospitals.
The SWSH Cancer Network has spent £330,000 on the video
conferencing contract with Audio Visual Machines, which supplied
and deployed video conferencing devices from manufacturer Polycom
and ISDN lines for all 14 sites.
The contract includes the cost of maintaining the devices and
the network for one year.
Specialist medical staff have been equipped with Polycom VSX
3000s in their offices. These 17-inch LCD monitors with built-in
camera, microphone and speakers are also being used as PC
monitors.
Peter Hargreaves, chair of the SWSH Cancer Network and
consultant in palliative medicine at the Macmillian Cancer Unit,
King Edward VII Hospital, Midhurst, said, "The main issue is the
loss of time. Every government document has said we should be using
modern technology to improve productive time."
Although the project has made the SWSH Cancer Network's
hospitals more efficient, the video conferencing deployment will
not count towards the NHS's Gershon efficiency targets.
The deployment improves productivity, but will not lead to
spending reductions in cancer care because the SWSH cancer network
is continuing to employ the same number of specialist cancer
staff.