Week 30: There’s always a spreadsheet
This week kicked off with another research visit, to a maternity unit within a sprawling hospital campus.
We were there as part of our discovery project into digital platforms and tools that support NHS maternity services.
It was a fascinating few hours, speaking to midwives, sonographers and vaccinators who were all very generous with their time and eager to show us the different systems they use.
My children are aged 5 and 8, and our experiences of maternity services was that nearly all of it was paper based, with physical binders full of notes.
However, in this unit at least, the process is now mostly paperless. This transition seems to have yielded lots of benefits but also some issues.
The ‘booking appointment’ involves spending up to 2 hours filling out a very long digital form which could definitely do with a few usability and content design improvements.
There was one central digital platform which held all the information relating to a pregnancy, with an app allowing patients some access to this.
Other specialist systems, such as the one used by sonographers doing ultrasound screenings and assessments, saved reports into the central platform.
It’s become a truism of doing contextual research that there’s always a spreadsheet involved somewhere. Finding out about these really helps to understand the limitations of other tools and platforms. In this case, a spreadsheet was used to track patients who needed to be slotted in to exiting schedules.
Quad-demic?
Unfortunately I spent the second half of the week being ill, hit with a sudden complete fatigue which I’ve assumed is probably flu.
I’m now more aware than ever how seasonal viruses can be, and the fears of a potential ‘quad-demic’ of flu, covid, RSV and norovirus are real.
Thankfully, I’m recovering now, but I’m annoyed with myself for not paying for a flu jab a month ago.
Links
- Digitisation, politicisation and the civil service from Martha Lane Fox talks about the digital skills gap in the civil service
- Build an NHS Fit for the Future is one of the 5 missions announced by the Government this week
Christmas tree is up and the kids have just watched Elf for the first time. The season has truly begun.