Highly specialised services

Here are some questions and answers about using a shared Toolbox in highly specialised NHS services.

What are Highly specialised NHS services?

Highly specialised services are provided to a smaller number of patients compared to specialised services, usually no more than 500 patients a year. These are services for very rare and/or complex conditions. Because of the small number of patients the services are provided in a limited number of hospitals which enables the clinicians to maintain their expertise.

Each of these specialised services could benefit from a shared online knowledge base, where staff from the respective hospitals providing the service can find and contribute to shared information.

What is Health Toolbox?

Health Toolbox, or just Toolbox, is an online platform which allows for collaborative, easy and streamlined publishing of healthcare-related information and its distribution to staff. It has a website and mobile apps.

Toolbox was started as a wiki where Junior doctors could share specialty handbooks/survival guides about their firms with the next cohort after changeover. It has received multiple innovation awards. In the last few years it has been made available to all healthcare staff rather than just junior doctors.

Toolbox has a number of tools to add, edit, review and maintain information with hypertext, graphics, attached documents, teaching videos, shared calendars and contact directories.

Toolbox allows control and review of the content. Administration and editing can be delegated to selected trusted people. Pages and attached documents can have their review dates and dedicated maintainers. The editing team can receive feedback from users about corrections or additional needs.

After updating any page or file on the Toolbox, the new content becomes immediately available on the website, and within a few minutes in the mobile apps. Access to the published content can be open/public, or restricted to NHS staff, or restricted to specific teams.

For more information and all features, please visit Frequently asked questions and Help centre.

Can teams of highly specialised services use a shared Toolbox?

A shared online Toolbox for highly specialised services in the NHS can provide several benefits:

Improved collaboration: Staff from different hospitals providing the same specialised service can collaborate and share knowledge through the Toolbox. This can lead to the development of best practices, increased efficiency, and a higher standard of care for patients.
Access to up-to-date information: A shared Toolbox can provide staff with access to the latest information about the specialised service, including clinical guidelines, protocols, and research findings. This can ensure that staff are providing the most up-to-date and evidence-based care to their patients.
Standardisation of care: By sharing information and best practices, a shared Toolbox can help standardise care across different hospitals providing the same specialised service. This can help ensure that patients receive consistent and high-quality care, regardless of which hospital they visit.
Reduced duplication of effort: By having a centralised repository of information, staff can avoid duplicating efforts and wasting time and resources on developing the same materials separately.
Knowledge retention: As staff come and go, a shared Toolbox can help ensure that institutional knowledge about the specialised service is retained and shared. This can help ensure continuity of care and prevent the loss of valuable information.

A shared Toolbox for highly specialised services in the NHS can facilitate collaboration, provide access to up-to-date information, standardise care, reduce duplication of effort, and retain institutional knowledge. These benefits can ultimately lead to improved patient outcomes and a more efficient use of resources.

How to encourage specialised teams to contribute to Toolbox?

Encouraging teams from specialised services to contribute and maintain a shared Toolbox requires a multifaceted approach.

On the software and support side:

We provide training and support: We provide documentation and training to staff on how to use the Toolbox, and offer ongoing support to address any issues or questions that could arise.
The software is user-friendly: The Toolbox is easy to use and navigate, with clear guidelines on how to contribute and edit content. The formatting is consistent throughout the Toolbox, and the search function is effective to make it easy for users to find what they need.
The software is feature-rich: The Toolbox has a number of publishing tools for editors and administrators that have been useful to dozens of hospitals in the UK.
The platform is highly flexible: The Toolbox has a modular architecture and can be configured and adapted for specific needs, including organisation, layout, colours, and new functions can be added.
The Toolbox is familiar: Over 20,000 healthcare staff from the UK have used or contributed to a Toolbox about their hospital, specialty or job.

On the teams side, you need to work with the users:

Assign responsibilities: Designate specific team members to be responsible for updating and maintaining different sections of the Toolbox. This can help ensure that the information is kept up-to-date and accurate.
Provide incentives: Consider offering incentives such as recognition, rewards, or professional development opportunities to encourage teams to contribute to and maintain the shared Toolbox.
Share success stories: Highlight success stories of how the Toolbox has helped improve patient care or streamline processes within the hospitals. This can help demonstrate the value of the Toolbox and encourage staff members to contribute.
Create a culture of collaboration: Encourage teams to collaborate and share information with each other. Emphasise the importance of sharing knowledge and expertise to improve patient care and outcomes.
Use feedback mechanisms: Encourage users to provide feedback on the Toolbox, and use this feedback to improve the content and make it more useful and relevant to users.

Creating a culture of collaboration, providing incentives, assigning responsibilities, providing training and support, and using feedback mechanisms can all help encourage teams from specialised services to contribute and maintain a shared Toolbox.