Hello everyone
Our kiosk is officially up and running. We are taking a phased approach, and the first thing it is available for is any SMG patient who wishes to check their blood pressure, or who has been asked to tell us their BP.
We have listened to patient feedback and the new kiosk is situated at the back of the waiting room behind red screens to give you maximum privacy. We will be having CCTV installed, mainly from a patient safety perspective – if anyone becomes unwell, you are not visible behind the screen, so we want to be able to know if there’s a problem. Equally, the equipment is sensitive and has a cost, and we need to guard against theft.
You can see a video of how things are set up here – https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGeXE9dog/ or on our Facebook page.
The biggest advantage about using the kiosk is that it is open whenever we are, which means you can use it until 8pm every evening and from 8am to 6pm on the weekend and bank holidays. This will hopefully be welcomed by people who struggle to visit us during the day.
It’s really easy to log on – no passwords! Just enter your name and then your date of birth in dd/mm/yyyy format. If you make a mistake, just use the backspace button.
Once you log in you will see a range of blue squares – simply choose BLOOD PRESSURE and you’re off!
A few things about using the kiosk to take your blood pressure –
· You need to put your arm into the cuff almost up to your armpit
· As you put your arm in you will notice a V shape – your elbow should rest in this dip, with your hand protruding from the opposite end
· The cuff should close around your upper arm – if it closes around your forearm or elbow, the reading will not be accurate, so please follow the picture below
Once your blood pressure is taken, the screen will confirm that it has been recorded and ask you to press CONTINUE. When it takes you back to the main screen, please click SUBMIT REQUEST in the top right hand corner – this will ensure that all your information is transferred to SystemOne (the clinical system we use.) And please don’t worry, we have posters up inside the kiosk to remind you of these steps.
What happens next? Your information will be directed to our clinical team who will let you know by text whether your blood pressure is within range or outside of it. If it’s ok, that’s it 😊 If we’re concerned, we will ask you to come in and speak to someone.
The Next Steps
The kiosk can do a LOT, and we are going to introduce things one by one. The first processes we are looking at are –
· New patient health check
· NHS health check
· ADHD review
· Contraceptive pill check
· HRT review
We are aiming to get these processes working in the next 2-4 weeks. I will do a similar post every time we launch a new process.
Beyond that, we are looking at which of our long-term condition reviews can be partly transferred to the kiosk. There are many advantages to this –
· Your appointment to see a HCA or a nurse will be shorter
· That appointment will focus on how they can help you
· You can complete the questionnaire at a time that’s more convenient to you (evenings, weekends)
· Some people will prefer to complete the information on the screen as they may view some of the questions as intrusive (eg smoking / alcohol related questions)
As ever, if you have feedback, let us know. A lot of the new process was informed by feedback from our Patient Participation Group, so please know that your voice is heard.
Thank you
Debbie