The Christie NHS Foundation Trust has become the first specialist cancer trust to deploy the CardMedic healthcare communications app.
The deployment began in October and the app is now being used by 100 nurses, doctors and pharmacists across the trust’s four sites at Withington, Salford, Oldham and Macclesfield.
It is being used during ward rounds and throughout clinical shifts when interpreters or multi-lingual staff are not available. It supports instant translation during consultations and treatment, using a mobile device or tablet with a digital platform that hosts a growing A-Z library of nearly 800 pre-written scripts.
Beth Allen, digital nurse implementer at the trust, commented: “Having this tool means we can safely and effectively talk with patients with additional communication needs when an interpreter isn’t available. It means that we can deliver the same standard of care that we do to our English-speaking patients, or those that don’t have additional communications needs.”
The Christie has deployed digital champions within nursing teams to support the take-up.
It has also been working with CardMedic to co-create content for its flashcard library, developing specific oncology scripts so patients who would otherwise struggle to communicate can be informed about their treatment.
