Designing out Covid-19: How the Locum's Nest Digital Passport allowed safe staffing in our hospitals
Dr Nicholas Andreou,
Co-Founder
Designing and developing beautiful digital products for healthcare that solve real-world problems is the foundation of Locum’s Nest. From concept to end product, we continuously develop our mobile app and platform to deliver an enjoyable user experience that makes our healthcare professionals’ lives easier.
Which is why we are over the moon to announce that Locum’s Nest has been shortlisted for the renowned Design Week Awards 2021. Following the rapid deployment of three Locum’s Nest products during the pandemic, our mobile app for NHS workers is in the running for a brand new category, ‘Designing out Covid-19’. And whilst awards aren’t why we do what we do, we’d be lying if we said we weren’t grinning from ear to ear.
Design Week 2021: Designing out Covid-19
Design Week is the UK’s leading digital design magazine. Showcasing the best in graphics, branding, interiors, product, furniture and more, the online platform has a thriving community of creatives and a respected reputation in and out of the design world.
Now in its 31st year, their annual award scheme is the most prestigious in the industry, recognising the most accomplished designers in their field. Acclaimed brands and platforms including the likes of the BBC, The Guardian and Penguin Books have each taken home a coveted trophy; a monumental career milestone for many designers and agencies.
And this year is no different. In 2021, the Design Week Awards continue to celebrate those at the top of their game in addition to a new category that commemorates the challenges and achievements of the past 12 months.
‘Designing out Covid-19’ recognises those whose creativity and innovation went above and beyond at a time when everything else was uncertain. Whilst the pandemic saw many businesses fight to stay afloat, those able to stepped up to help the nation fight against the virus. This category celebrates physical or digital designs which mitigated risk, helped encourage positive behaviour change and even saved lives.
We are beyond honoured that the Locum’s Nest mobile app has been shortlisted for this esteemed award. At the start of the outbreak, we recognised our unique position as the NHS’ leading workforce technology provider - our vibrant community of healthcare professionals and organisations were all working together to fight Covid-19 using Locum’s Nest Match to connect vacant shifts with available and qualified healthcare professionals, but also to interact with each other. We realised we could do even more to support the NHS with better communication whilst aiding safer patient care and reduced risks to our healthcare workers.
Channelling our user-centric philosophy, our Research and Development team immediately began designing a state-of-the-art solution that would spotlight our mission to solve the NHS staffing crisis within a global pandemic. Within a short period of super-focussed bursts of development, three new products were seamlessly integrated onto our app, straight into the hands of over 40,000 NHS healthcare professionals.
> Encouraging better communications during lockdown restrictions
Rapid project delivery began with Locum’s Nest Community, an in-app solution which enabled effective communication throughout national lockdowns between newly working-from-home management teams and the clinical workforce. By breaking down communication walls between NHS professionals and organisations, managers were able to share updates to both full and part-time staff quickly and safely in the form of news bulletins, surveys or videos.
Whilst this fundamentally aided the delivery of crucial information such as PPE changes and staff risk-assessment surveys, these digital touchpoints also encouraged a sense of human connection through tightly knit social networks that were so desperately needed for the wellbeing of frontline workers.
> Designing new methods of care delivery to help save lives
NHS communication was also enhanced through Locum’s Nest Match. Leveraging our flagship shift matching technology, we were able to make new deliveries of care available to our mobile app users. Interim Care Shifts now share bitesize detailed Covid instructions, effectively communicating otherwise complex guidelines to GPs at the point of care. Similarly, new shift cards were created for available vaccination shifts to available clinicians. By designing new ways of communicating shifts, staff can be deployed safely and effectively both within organisations and across geographies.
> Enhanced freedom of movement for clinicians while mitigating risks
This is strengthened by the Locum’s Nest Digital Passport, a state-of-the-art technology which facilitates staff movement and enables doctors to cross-cover shifts at neighbouring hospitals. This technology evolved during the pandemic to accommodate for Covid-19 self-isolation reporting, helping hospitals to better anticipate and prepare their wards for the increased demand.
Designed to facilitate speedy onboarding, a doctor returning to the frontline using the Locum’s Nest app can become a member of any of our partner hospitals’ contingent workforce. Through information held by the Digital Passport, such as compliance records, hospitals can start to share their pool of doctors regularly without a long lead time. It was incredible to see how doctors in the participating region cross-covered each other across hospitals, ensuring that the wards were safely staffed. By May 2020 we saw a record-breaking 91% of all vacant shifts filled across our partner acute hospitals in The Digital Collaborative Bank, resulting in next to no shifts remaining unfilled across the hospitals involved.
These new features, seamlessly blended together with the core function of the Locum’s Nest app, are revolutionising the way NHS doctors are supported by technology by making shift work and flexible working an inclusive, kinder and more fulfilling experience.
After a turbulent year for both our employees and the NHS staff for whom we continue to serve, it fills us with pride to see their hard work and creativity be recognised by the Design Week Awards.
Stay tuned for 29th June when Design Week will announce the winners online… in the meantime we’ll be keeping all toes and fingers crossed!
___
For further information about the above Locum’s Nest workforce solutions, you can explore our product pages or get in touch with our team to receive any additional information.