NHS Devon has announced that a project that increases GP access locally through new digital technology has been shortlisted for at the prestigious HSJ Awards, recognising an outstanding contribution to healthcare and securing a place at an awards ceremony later this year.
The project, called GP in the Cloud (GPitC), enables GPs located anywhere in the UK to carry out consultations with Devon patients from their own devices. GPitC uses a secure cloud-based virtual desktop to provide access to practice IT systems, without requiring IT equipment to be physically shared.
Practices using GPitC have reported that they improved access, were more resilient when impacted by unplanned staff absence and found significantly reduced costs to practices. GPitC technology is now embedded as the ‘business as usual’ model across Devon.
The project is a collaboration between NHS Devon, DELT, Intergy and NASGP.
A ‘record-breaking’ 1456 entries have been received for this year’s Awards, with 223 projects and individuals reaching the final shortlist, making it the biggest awards programme in the award’s 43-year history.
The high volume – and exceptional quality – of applications once again mirrors the impressive levels of innovation and care continually being developed within the UK’s healthcare networks.
Following the thorough judging process, was shortlisted, ahead of the official awards ceremony to be held later this year (November 16), with its standing out as a real ‘success story’ worthy of a prized place on the panel’s shortlist.
Dr John McCormick, GP and Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS Devon, said: “We are very proud to be recognised this way. Being shortlisted for in the HSJ Awards 2023 will be a huge boost for our dedicated and hard-working team.
“GP in the Cloud has been transformative for our local GP practices and made significant improvements to us being able to better meet the demands of our patients at a time that there were huge challenges in accessing local GP services.
“Being shortlisted for these awards gives us the opportunity to share our success with colleagues from across the entire sector, as well as showcasing everything we’ve learnt through implementing our project.”
HSJ editor Alastair McLellan, adds; “It always gives me great pleasure to congratulate our finalists at this stage of the judging process and this year is no exception as we acknowledge NHS Devon for being shortlisted in the category of digitising patient care.
“It’s been so encouraging to hear that 2023 has been record-breaking in terms of the number of applicants and, as ever, the calibre of entries left our panel of expert judges with some tough decisions to deliberate over.
“However, it’s always important to remember that the HSJ Awards are not just a celebration of success stories but also a platform to shape the future of the NHS. We can’t wait to welcome our finalists to the awards ceremony in November and to recognise and applaud such impressive achievements across the sector – as well as coming together to help mark the 75th birthday of our great NHS.”
The selected winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at Evolution London on 16 November 2023.
The 2023 awards judging panel was once again made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, including; Crystal Oldman, Chief Executive, Queen’s Nursing Institute; Dr Habib Naqvi MBE, Chief Executive, NHS Race and Health Observatory; Anne-Marie Vine-Lott, Director of Health, Vodafone; Sir Jim Mackey, National Director of Elective Recovery, NHS England, as well as a range of esteemed Chief Executives from NHS Trusts across the UK.
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