I started working at Luscii two years ago. By then I would have never thought I would become an expert about the UK healthcare system. But then Covid hit…
It all started early 2021 in the middle of the second Covid wave. Hospitals were filling up with Covid patients again and they were looking for options to alleviate the pressure.
In the Netherlands, St. Antonius hospital had developed an early discharge program using the Luscii system showing promising results.
The early discharge program was picked up in the UK and many NHS trusts wanted to deploy it as well.
So that was the moment I got introduced to Airedale General hospital and the Royal Wolverhampton Trust. Two hospitals who fearlessly put their trust in a Dutch remote monitoring company to deliver the technology to monitor their covid patients.
Since covid made video-calling the new way of working, instead of actually traveling to the UK, I could implement programs with the same high standards Luscii was used to. My journey to understand the UK and NHS had officially begun.
After the second Covid wave both hospitals wanted to add more programs, and this is where the real fun started.
The Covid program was rather straightforward but for example COPD requires a lot more local knowledge to build and implement.
It was a lot of fun to expand your horizons as a person and work with a new country in a completely different care system, even though that care system is not always easy to understand.
The NHS is an amazing institution which most Brits are justifiably very proud of. However it does get a little complicated now and then.
At the start, I remember asking one of my British coworkers if he could give me a crash course on how the NHS works and the answer was basically; ‘that’s almost impossible’.
Thankfully all the project leads, nurses and consultants always took their time to answer my questions on how certain things work.
After 1.5 years I have a much better understanding, although I no longer have the illusion I will fully grasp the NHS and all its complexities.
Besides the healthcare differences there are also some small but significant cultural differences.
Being a very direct Dutchie I had to get used to the fact that in the UK it is not always common to speak your mind and to be super direct about certain things. This causes some confusion now and then, but is also part of the fun!
After quite some time, in July 2022 I finally had the opportunity to travel abroad and visit the UK and meet the Virtual Ward teams I cooperated with for such a long time.
It’s kinda weird and awesome at the same time to finally see a full person and not just that face behind the computer screen.
Actually being in the hospital and seeing how certain things are organised and the work processes is invaluable knowledge.
Hearing about it via video is fine, but actually seeing it happen in front of your own eyes gives more insight and gives fuel to further improve the things you’re working on.
All in all there is a lot of passion and an innovative drive in the UK to improve healthcare. There are a lot more great ideas and hopefully Luscii will be able to help wherever possible.
I’m excited to see what the future of digital care brings and how we can contribute to it.
More about virtual wards with Luscii.
