By: Denis Campbell
May 23, 2019
Millions of patients will be encouraged to use digital technology to assess how ill they are under a groundbreaking initiative by a leading NHS hospital, as part of a drive to reduce the use of A&E and outpatient appointments.
A revolution in the NHS’s embrace of technology will see patients in Birmingham advised to use online – live and automated – chat services, online symptom checkers and video consultations with doctors and nurses to help relieve the “unsustainable” pressure on services.
University Hospitals Birmingham (UHB) trust has decided to push through radical changes that it hopes will transform how hundreds of thousands of patients a year receive NHS care and treatment.