Health Matters: Technology helping to improve Highland physio care
Technology has changed our lives dramatically over the years. Whether it is how we shop, listen to music or communicate with friends or family, technology has been at the heart of how we live our lives.
And it has shaped our working lives, too. The Covid-19 pandemic changed how many of us work, including the option to work remotely from our homes.
This working relationship with technology has many benefits in my role.
In fact, I have first-hand experience of how technology can drive innovative change in how we deliver care to our patients.
Hundreds of patients around Highland are benefiting from an interactive online product that offers faster access to GP physiotherapy services.
We were the first area in Scotland to introduce Phio, a free, clinically-supported digital tool that provides immediate support for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.
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Since a trial of the service was launched last December, it has been used by 812 people, ranging in age from 16 to 88, across the north of Scotland.
As the first area in Scotland to use this tool to complement existing services, it was difficult to gauge at the outset what the response would be.
The results have been hugely encouraging, with people starting to try Phio as soon as we launched it and the numbers growing steadily week-by-week across the area as word has spread about its benefits.
From the data and feedback we have received it is particularly pleasing to see that patients in all age groups, from 16 upwards are finding the service simple to use as well as helpful.
We have had a considerable number of positive comments about Phio, both from patients and from doctors in the general practices.
Overseen by Phio’s physiotherapists, the tool, which is accessible on mobile phones and other devices, directs users through an online clinical assessment to the appropriate care.
This can be urgent care for those presenting with “red flag” symptoms, face-to-face care with a GP or first contact physiotherapist, or, if clinically suitable, a tailored exercise programme with in-app clinical support and remote management. Progress on the programme is continually supported and monitored by Phio’s team of specialist MSK physiotherapists.
Under the current trial, Phio is available to everyone across Highland aged 16 and over, with an MSK condition and registered with a GP practice. It is accessible 24-hours-a-day on any device with an internet connection.
We are approaching the halfway point in the trial, and the results are highly impressive. They show Phio is strengthening the first contact physiotherapy service by giving patients faster, easy access MSK physiotherapy care as well as information and advice on how to get the right care at the right time.
It is a great addition to the services we provide and we have had excellent feedback from patients and our colleagues across primary care.
Technology like this will continue to play a crucial role in shaping how we deliver health and social care services to people across Highland in the future. And we are at the cutting edge of delivering creative, innovative and efficient physiotherapy care to the patients we serve.
Jude Arnaud is NHS Highland’s clinical lead for first contact physiotherapists in general practice in the north and west area.
