College comments on new NHS Online Hospital

College comments on new NHS Online Hospital

The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh ("the College") has given its reaction to the announcement today from NHS England and the Department of Health & Social Care of a new NHS Online Hospital. The new service will digitally connect patients to expert clinicians anywhere in England.

Speaking today Professor Andrew Elder, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, said:

It is, of course, right and appropriate that the NHS constantly looks to develop and take forward innovation to improve further the service it offers patients, reduce waiting times and boost access to specialist consultants. We therefore recognise the potential that the new NHS Online Hospital has.

However, we would also wish to avoid any possibility that the new service might exacerbate health inequalities by missing out those patients who may be digitally excluded, including some older or disabled people. We hope that NHS England and the Department of Health & Social Care will set out in detail how it plans to tackle this potential exclusion.

In addition, we would like to understand how clinicians will be supported to deliver the new service. Most are already working under sever pressure and it is unclear where the human resource to deliver this technological innovation will come from.

Finally, while we understand that NHS Online Hospital has a part to play in our NHS, we will continue to highlight the fundamental importance of the relational, human aspects of health and care and the clinician–patient relationship. Those relationships will continue to underpin our NHS across most clinical settings and we believe that neither patients, nor their doctors, want to see them compromised.