This mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methods PhD will examine and explore intended and unintended beneficial and adverse effects of digital innovations. Case studies will be identified and the examination will include clinical, economic and experiential impacts.
Over the last 10 years Emergency Department (ED) attendances have risen by 22%. Staffing and system support has not risen commensurately to deal with the rising patient numbers. The NHS England target to either discharge or admit 95% of patients within 4 hours of arrival to ED had its lowest annual performance in 2017/18 with 11.6% (2.8 million patients) ‘breaching’ this time, compared with 4.1% (900,000) five years ago. Triage is currently based on observations (saturation blood with oxygen (SpO2), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR) and temperature (T)) which can now be collected remotely by camera. Application of machine learning may allow near-instantaneous determination of need for admission for a small proportion, and requirement for blood tests for others- thus speeding management and saving time and money whilst improving outcomes.