NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney (NHS GY&W) has won an award for its use of technology in tackling the issue of supporting long-term conditions.
NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney’s website, www.livinglife.gyw.nhs.uk, won an award from the East of England Practice Based Commissioning (PBC) Service for ‘The most innovative PBC collaborative project.’
As budgets are being reviewed and targets need to be maintained, encouraging self management of long-term conditions is recognised nationally and regionally as an issue to help reduce waiting times and hospital visits.
NHS GY&W wanted to support people in managing their own conditions. It worked with not-for-profit IT company Eduserv to develop a website dedicated to the 100,000 people living in Great Yarmouth and Waveney with at least one long-term condition. The website offers online advice from local GPs and includes interactive forums for people suffering from similar conditions to share their experiences and learn how to manage their conditions.
Julian Mitchell, Eduserv Public Sector Manager, said: “We worked very closely with NHS GY&W to understand their challenge and develop an interactive site that would really benefit people living with long-term conditions. Within the first 7 months of launch the site received 6,242 unique visits and 24.22% of visitors returned to use the site regularly.”
NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney
