Barts Health teams recognised at BMJ Awards
A website using video to help patients understand their procedure before undergoing treatment has won a BMJ award for digital innovation.
Explainmyprocedure.com features short animations on a range of procedures across different medical areas including cardiac care, orthopaedics and interventional radiology.
Last year it scooped a HSJ award.
The website, the brainchild of David Wald, Professor of Cardiology at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, can be accessed by patients on their mobile, tablet or computer, before their consent to have the procedure is given.
The animations are available in a range of languages including Bengali, Polish, Turkish and Hindi, as well as English.
Judges praised Professor Wald and his team for radically improving patients’ understanding of clinical procedures and the trade-offs between benefit and risks.
An evaluation of the project showed they could save the NHS about £40m a year if expanded across all specialties and trusts.
The judges said the project “helps to address health inequalities and empowers patients, providing stylish yet simple explanations in different languages.”
Earlier this year, Professor Wald created Covid-safe Care, a new short film to explain what patients can expect when they visit Barts Health hospitals during the coronavirus pandemic.
At the same awards ceremony, which took place virtually his year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, The Royal London’s emergency department was highly commended for Workforce and Wellbeing Team of the Year, which celebrates teams that have made a measurable improvement in the wellbeing of their workforce.
The children’s retinoblastoma team at The Royal London were also shortlisted in the cancer care category.
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