NHS workers at University Hospital Southampton are using Microsoft mobile technology to find out rapidly whether new patients arriving at the hospital with Coronavirus symptoms have the virus or not.
To reduce the amount of time it takes to find out whether a patient has the virus, doctors and other staff at University Hospital Southampton are receiving patient test results on their mobile phones through a bot in Microsoft Teams. This new approach means staff can now find out the status of a patient in minutes, instead of hours. Before switching to the new tech, healthcare staff would have to check a ward or office-based desktop computer every few hours to see if the test results had been returned.
Patients who do not have the virus can then be moved quickly out of isolation units, giving more space for new hospital admissions.
The bot was created by Microsoft partner Medxnote to be used in Teams. Since the pandemic was announced, NHS staff have been given free access to Teams and have been using the platform to communicate with one another in healthcare settings amid isolation and lockdown restrictions.
Dr. Ashwin Pinto of the hospital told Microsoft: “We can know where that patient is, so we can make sure they go to the right care environment and that staff are safe as well. That’s been transformational.”
A Teams channel has also been setup to alert staff if a team member tests positive for the virus.
NHS Scotland staff to use Microsoft Teams
It's been announced that all NHS staff in Scotland will use Microsoft Teams as their communication hub during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The platform has been rolled out to more than 160,000 staff by NHS Scotland, including those working on the frontline in hospitals, the Scottish Ambulance Service and health boards.
Using Teams will allow healthcare workers in Scotland to share and work together on files securely, at the same time and from any location, meaning lockdown and isolation restrictions can still be observed while working together. The platform also allows for virtual meetings, instant messaging and video and audio calls.
Chief Executive of NHS National Services Scotland, Colin Sinclair, has said of the move: “This unprecedented event, combined with a lockdown of the UK, has led to an unequivocal need to open up digital communications to help the NHS save lives."
"In response to the challenges of the pandemic, NHS Scotland has accelerated the rollout of Microsoft Teams, so that it is available to all of our staff."
To thank healthcare professionals for their work during the Covid-19 pandemic, NHS staff are being given free games, in a UK-wide initiative called Games for Carers.
Free three-month passes for the Microsoft-owned Xbox will be available to NHS workers, giving them access to more than 100 games on console and PC, including fan-favourite, Minecraft.
Jo Twist, Chief Executive of Ukie (the UK's trade body for games and interactive entertainment) who are behind the initiative, said: “The UK games industry has united to say thank you to the truly extraordinary people who make up the NHS frontline team. Game makers and players everywhere recognise their exceptional bravery and dedication and hope this initiative helps them to understand how much they are respected and valued.”