Why
People with learning disabilities often experience poorer physical and mental health than others. GPs must conduct an annual Health Check on individuals aged 14 and above to facilitate early detection of health issues. Annual health checks need to be accessed by all health and social care teams involved in the person's care. Care can be disjointed, and there is no central place for data.
What
Utilising PKB for patients with learning difficulties ensures seamless communication between health and social care teams and carers while empowering patients.
The learning disabilities health check encourages GPs to identify and maintain a register of patients aged 14 and above with learning disabilities, offering them an annual health check, including a health action plan. Using PKB care plan feature, patients and everyone involved in their care can have access to this plan, avoiding duplication and providing a central place for information and plan.
How
By creating a digital annual health check care plan in PKB, individuals gain access to and can share their care plan with relevant health and social care team members, enhancing coordination and continuity of care. PKB questionnaires can be used to gather pre-appointment data, which saves time in the appointment process and reduces the need for patients to repeat information.
Current problems
Long consultation with the patient
Patients don’t always get a copy
The health and care team don't always have access to annual health check
Not accurate information on the spot
PKB solutions
Patient-initiated messaging when they need to contact their team/s
Central library for content and resources
Individualised care plans
Digital appointment management
Access to laboratory results, symptom tracking
Digital questionnaires
Provides access to prevention and health promotion resources
Benefits
Empowers patients to contribute to their own goals and care plans
Access to management advice, including shared decision-making and self-management tools
Reduce appointments by up to 75%
Allows self-management
Patient in control of their follow-up (PIFU)
PKB features
Key PKB features all learning difficulties services that can be used with their patients to support them while they wait, promote health, and deliver care. A list of them is below.
Messaging
Patients have access to message their healthcare team (saving time on the phone)
The Admin team can triage messages. Either resolving or passing onto another speciality team
Universal Messaging is the ability for patients to message clinical and non-clinical teams
Team-based messaging allows teams to automatically receive secure messages and consultations/questionnaires as a group rather than as individuals
Events and Messaging Through The NHS App
Patients can access letters the hospital sends directly from within the NHS App via the events and messaging jump-off point (specific to PKB) via any web-enabled device.
Library
The library can be broken down into different areas for nursing, health check or health promotion advice
Condition information with advice and resources
Treatment plans, for example, a rehab program with videos and advice a patient needs to watch and read each week
Details and links to National and local support groups and website
Sensory information
Bowel management and activities
Care plans
PKB care plans can be used at every stage of a patient's condition journey, below are some of the care plan templates being used and templates that can be created.
Questionnaires
Patients can initiate a questionnaire by clicking Start Questionnaire on their homepage or directly within the NHS App. Once completed, the questionnaire can be sent to a professional or team.
Teams using the questionnaire tool can ensure the outcome of clinical reviews is recorded and the patient has a copy. Teams can also identify patients suitable for virtual appointments or PIFU.
Advanced Questionnaires
PKB’s advanced questionnaire functionality; features include:
Scoring and calculations
Branching, allowing patients to complete the parts of the questionnaire that are relevant to them
Coded fields questionnaires can be mapped to clinical codes
Patients can save drafts
Send questionnaires to patients who aren’t registered or already in your team
Questionnaire templates
QoL (and carer QoL)
Pain
Appointments
Appointment letters and appointments sent to PKB via integration
Manually entered appointments
Add and view data
Patients can view hospitals and GP data where an integration with PKB has been set up
Data can include blood tests, x-ray reports, clinic and appointment letters, appointments and discharge summaries.
Patients can add information themselves, including operations and conditions.
Patients can track key measurements and add any symptoms related to their orthopaedic condition
Example Goal for using PKB
Reduce the number of missed appointments (DNA) for the rheumatology team by Sept 2024 (12 months post team go live) from (current missed appointments) to ( %) by sending all appointment letters and appointment details into PKB instead of by post. Current missed appointment rates are (%). 12 months post-going live, the team compared missed appointment rates of patients with and without a PKB record. It is a local NHS priority to reduce missed appointments to save money.
Further information
How to capture digital outcome measures in PKB: examples outcome measure questionnaire templates and workflow
Severe mental illness: using PKB to provide a digital recovery platform
Mental Health questionnaire templates: examples of questionnaires used by mental health teams
Mental Health care plan template: example of a care plan used by a mental health team
Video testimonial of a patient with long term mental health and physical health conditions: didn’t feel in control of their own health and struggled to communicate her background and needs.