COVID-19 Meeting the coronavirus challenge together The COVID-19 pandemic had a huge impact on healthcare services, requiring an unprecedented national response. Piers Ricketts, CEO of Eastern AHSN and Chair of the AHSN Network, reflects on how the AHSN Network responded quickly to support the health and care system and on our work with partners across the East of England As the majority of NHS staff were redirected to provide support during the pandemic, particularly on the frontline, the AHSN Network also quickly realigned our teams to support the national and regional responses where it was most needed. The key was to be clear about exactly where we would be able to add the most value and prioritise those areas of work. Ive described below some of the support we have provided so far nationally and in the East of England: Leveraging our knowledge In the first week of the crisis, Eastern AHSN contributed to the national AHSN Network collation of more than 200 proven innovations in diagnostic testing, remote consultation and monitoring. These had the potential to support the health and care service to change the way in which it delivered care in the context of a rapidly spreading new infectious disease. Additionally, we supported TechForce19, a call out led by NHSX for digital innovations to assist the elderly, vulnerable and self-isolating during lockdown. We helped the national team to evaluate more than 1,600 submissions, as a result of which 18 innovators received up to 25,000 each to rapidly develop their ideas with the support of the AHSN Network. Going digital The transformation of primary care and outpatients to a primarily telephone and online model 300% increase in Supporting was essential to enable clinicians to support their patients safely. Working nationally with our people accessing online information through the Just One Norfolk service network of digital leaders and chief information officers and alongside the NHS, the AHSNs self-care led on the rollout and adoption of existing procured solutions for remote triage and consultation. At Eastern AHSN we also developed a reporting dashboard to track and monitor implementation across our region. Additionally, we led another digital workstream to review and update cyber security measures and support the secure delivery and installation of new IT equipment across primary care. We shared our learnings from these initiatives, both across our region and on a national level. This huge leap forward in digital capability in our region allowed us to develop the capacity for remote triage and digital consultations between primary care and residential and care homes. Eastern AHSN staff were redeployed alongside the AstraZeneca field force working, pro bono, to embed these Everyone who works for the NHS has rightly been recognised by the British public for everything they do and their commitment to patients and each one of them has our utmost respect solutions in different care settings. The focus on digital innovations was not restricted to primary care: We supported Medwise.AI in developing an open-access, clinically curated, AI-powered platform to provide the NHS with free and fast access to official guidelines, share learnings and best practice during the COVID-19 crisis. Working closely with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group we are evaluating the use of remote monitoring devices for patients within care homes and will share our learnings across the region. We helped Cambridge University Hospitals deliver cardiac rehab physiotherapy services online via the Active+me programme, which combined virtual exercise classes, health coaching and the use of remote monitoring technology to track participants health and wellbeing. The Just One Norfolk service, which we helped establish to support parents with health information 24/7, had a 300% rise in people accessing information online, assisting to reduce pressure on services. We helped staff at Royal Papworth Hospital show their gratitude and publicly praise colleagues using the Laudix app, which had a record-breaking 100-plus callouts of praise Over 100 callouts of praise for staff at the Royal Papworth Hospital during the peak of the crisis thanks to the Laudix app Recognising NHSstaj for staff during the peak of the crisis in March. Supporting the acute sector and care homes As a national network, we have been active in supporting the procuring and delivering of personal protective equipment (PPE). AHSNs have helped to track supplies, collaborated with industry and universities to develop PPE, triaged offers from companies, provided communications support and shared resources. At Eastern AHSN, we supported a volunteer initiative ShieldNHS with the University of Cambridge Judge Business School, to design, manufacture and distribute more than 40,000 face shields to NHS staff. The wealth of clinical and operational expertise we have at Eastern AHSN meant we could redeploy staff to join the frontline workforce on wards and to manage acute critical care services and resources across our region. Some seconded staff from acute providers and clinical commissioning groups also returned to their substantive organisations to support their COVID-19 response. The Patient Safety Collaboratives hosted within AHSNs also adapted their workstreams to focus on the pandemic response. In the East, we continued to provide valuable training and resources to care homes, including the implementation of RESTORE2 and other tools for managing deterioration. We published e-learning materials and ran webinars with the Royal College of General Practitioners to ensure patient safety tools were used appropriately. We will continue to develop the capacity for remote monitoring in the care sector to help identify and respond to deterioration sooner to improve patient outcomes. Keeping innovation at the core of NHS Reset Given the importance of learning from change, the AHSN Network is partnering with the NHS Confederation and the Health Foundation on the NHS Reset campaign. The AHSNs will have a More then key role in collating and evaluating interventions that produced excellent results and those 40,000 face shields designed, that may not be sustainable or necessary in the long term or may create difficulties for Helping with PPE certain patient groups. manufactured and distributed to NHS staff through the volunteer initiative ShieldNHS At Eastern AHSN, we are managing a survey across the East of England in partnership with the regional office of NHS England and NHS Improvement and local authorities to help us gather views on innovations that have been introduced during this unprecedented period of change and the factors that have enabled these rapid changes to normal practice. Undoubtedly there will be a great many lessons that will be drawn from this work for the future adoption of technology in the health service. Next steps This survey and your feedback will ensure we continue to evolve to take account of your needs. At Eastern AHSN, we too need to adapt to the new situation and ensure our priorities meet the current and future needs of our community. One of our learnings so far is that, while some aspects of face-to-face meetings cannot be replaced, we have shifted our innovator events online and have received positive feedback on how this can enable participation in our programmes. COVID-19 has forced a pace of change within health technology that we have not seen before. While these changes have been made under extraordinary and enforced circumstances, they are part of a momentum that has built up within the health technology sector, which we believe should not be allowed to lose pace once we start to emerge from the crisis. Everyone who works for the NHS has rightly been recognised by the British public for everything they do and their commitment to patients and each one of them has our utmost respect. What is notable also is how industry and academia came together in new ways to fight a common cause. We hope to build on this collaborative momentum, boldness and energy to help co-create ideas that will make a positive health impact across other areas of high priority, including cancer, rare diseases, mental health and living and ageing well. The key learning from the pandemic is perhaps the power of community and that we can achieve so much more by working together. Medwise.ai Find out more about Medwise.ai including the UK government grant they have been awarded to further develop their AI-powered platform initially and most urgently to treat COVID-19. Share this article Supporting healthcare professionals As part of our response to the COVID-19 pandemic, here are some resources to support healthcare professionals across primary care, secondary care and care homes from the Patient Safety Collaboratives. EasternAHSN.org