Consultant Connect
Consultant Connect is a telemedicine provider transforming patient care in the NHS; enabling telephone, messaging (secure clinical photography) and tele-dermatology advice & guidance. Additional services include referral triage, advice & refer, virtual wards and telemedicine devices to a range of healthcare providers including GPs, Paramedics and cross hospital services.
Features
- Telephone Advice & Guidance, Instant Messaging A&G
- Patient Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU) and Patient Connect
- Referral Triage and Validation and eRS list Management
- National Consultant Network (out of area NHS Consultant Support)
- Advice & Refer - integrated primary care referrals
- eRS/EMIS/SystmOne Electronic Record Integration
- Teledermatology: Safe Clinical Photography / Photo Advice and Guidance
- Telemedicine Devices (Teladoc Health) - Remote Patient Monitoring
- SDEC / UEC Emergency Care Recovery Pathways
- eRS referrals and eRS Advice & Guidance worklist management
Benefits
- Bridge the gap between primary and secondary care
- Empower patients, more personalised care; Reduce service waiting times
- Reduce unnecessary travel time and stress of attending hospital
- Reduce clinical risk, improve patient care; Identifies important upgrades/downgrades
- Safely reduce waiting lists with virtual management plans
- Free up local clinical capacity; Specialist input pre referral
- Improve productivity, save time; Reduce admin burden
- Securely triage, diagnose, assess skin conditions through high-quality digital images
- Enables equity of access to services across a region
- Improves patient care through increased specialist-led care
Pricing
£36,000.00 a licence a year
Service documents
Request an accessible format
Framework
G-Cloud 14
Service ID
1 8 2 6 9 7 2 8 2 8 2 4 5 6 5
Contact
CONSULTANT CONNECT LIMITED
Jonathan Patrick
Telephone: 01865261467
Email: hello@consultantconnect.org.uk
Service scope
- Software add-on or extension
- Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
- What software services is the service an extension to
- Communicates with patient record systems on EMIS and Systm1. Integration with NHS eRS/CIS2/PDS/IM1
- Cloud deployment model
- Private cloud
- Service constraints
- There are no constraints for our service. Our solution is designed to be compatible with devices/software used by the vast majority of the population. Conflicts or issues only arise when end users are using very old or very bespoke devices or operating systems. The only issue our users have reported attributable to device/software compatibility was associated with accessing our portal through an old unsupported version of Internet Explorer and which for this reason presented a data security risk. We advised the user to move to a newer, supported version of Internet Explorer following which no further issues were experienced.
- System requirements
-
- Consultant Connect License required
- Modern web browsers: chrome, firefox, edge, safari
- Mobile: iOS 15 or above
- Mobile: Android 11 or above
- Windows 7 to 11
- Mac OSX
User support
- Email or online ticketing support
- Email or online ticketing
- Support response times
-
Acknowledgement of any questions issued through the app or via email is shared immediately.
Response times depend on the severity or urgency of the query.
For a major issue impacting patient care, we respond with a proposed resolution within 4 hours.
For a medium issue with no impact on patient care we respond with a proposed resolution within 1 day.
For a low level issue with no impact on patient care we respond with a proposed resolution within 5 days. - User can manage status and priority of support tickets
- No
- Phone support
- Yes
- Phone support availability
- 9 to 5 (UK time), 7 days a week
- Web chat support
- No
- Onsite support
- Onsite support
- Support levels
-
Each client is appointed a dedicated Account Manager who offers ongoing engagement and support to ensure maximum benefit and support. Account Managers are proactive in obtaining client feedback and our Clinical Engagement Team is available to support queries from service users daily. Our current turnaround time for user queries is approximately 2 hours for in-app and email enquiries. Phone lines are manned 8am-8pm.
Where clients request support via online channels, Account Managers monitor progress and ensure a satisfactory resolution and act as an interface between clients and our in-house development and technical teams. Account Managers maintain ongoing communication where support is requested. They can also arrange additional support or training as required to address specific challenges faced locally.
Our Chief Product Officer oversees our support function and works closely with Account Managers to ensure a prompt and satisfactory resolution. We operate a defined prioritisation system ensuring any issues experienced which may impact patient care (Level-1) receive immediate attention to ensure any impact is minimised and systems are returned to normal operation as soon as possible.
Onsite support is not usually required, however, our team is available onsite if requested. Consultant Connects support levels are provided at no extra cost. - Support available to third parties
- Yes
Onboarding and offboarding
- Getting started
-
Sign-up is straightforward (+/- 2minute initial sign-up to the App and into an account in a web browser or no sign-up for landline), and users can immediately access support. We also provide a dedicated account manager for each client to answer day to day queries and support commissioners to maximise uptake for the benefit of patients.
Use of our system is intuitive - no formal training is required, however videos/guidance documents are available on our website and our Clinical Engagement Team provides demonstrations of the functionalities during mobilisation and are available over the phone for support between 8am and 8pm, with additional coverage out-of-hours.
Training is delivered either remotely or onsite depending on client requirements and we can undertake as many training visits as required to ensure users are maximising our solution.
We also provide a targeted user handbook aimed at either primary care users making queries or secondary care consultants who are providing the advice and guidance.
In addition, we share FAQ sheets and the Clinical Engagement Team publish regular newsletters and updates to keep users informed regarding any enhancements or changes to functionality. - Service documentation
- Yes
- Documentation formats
-
- ODF
- Other
- Other documentation formats
-
- Word
- Excel
- End-of-contract data extraction
- Users are able to retrieve their call/photo/message 'records' (which include information such as who sent the communication, who received it, what the specialism was, when it happened, etc.) by downloading a CSV or XLSX spreadsheet which can then be imported into their records system. Users can also download their calls on our dashboard.
- End-of-contract process
-
The Consultant Connect Telephone Advice & Guidance service is a switch-on, switch-off service and handover processes are established and support seamless service transition.
Specific processes at the conclusion of any contract are guided by commissioners. Client Account Managers establish requirements and develop a handover plan. Requirements are usually minimal and are guided by the relevant Data Protection and Information Governance legislation and regulation and contract requirements agreed addressing what we can legally share.
Once requirements are confirmed and agreed, we are proactive in engaging with clients (and potential new providers) for the benefit of patients. We provide TUPE information if required, though this is rare, and provide service information where this is not commercially sensitive or restricted by the Data Protection Act 2018 such as Practice/Trust/department IDs to ensure service continuity.
Once all pertinent information has been shared we schedule a contract debrief to finalise any other handover requirements and discuss contract performance and reasons for the contract concluding. We record and analyse the information/feedback as part of our quality management regime to establish if Consultant Connect could have done anything differently to have retained the contract.
Using the service
- Web browser interface
- Yes
- Supported browsers
-
- Microsoft Edge
- Firefox
- Chrome
- Safari
- Application to install
- Yes
- Compatible operating systems
-
- Android
- IOS
- Designed for use on mobile devices
- Yes
- Differences between the mobile and desktop service
- Some services are only available on either iOS and Android OR web portal, but only where sensible - e.g. PhotoSAF photo uploads only happen on a mobile device, as they are guaranteed to have a camera. We do this to encourage users to upload photos in an IG safe way rather than storing photos on their computer.
- Service interface
- Yes
- User support accessibility
- WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
- Description of service interface
-
Consultant Connect is configurable through a service interface which is intuitive and easy-to-use ensuring accessibility for all users. Users access a home page from where they can navigate to any area of the solution to, for example, review usage or make an in-app call to a consultant.
Clients can assign administrative users (e.g. GPs, medical secretaries, practice managers) and give them control of:
Rota Management
Reporting
Pathway Management
User Management
Service Set Up
Managers can also configure and generate reports to monitor performance and support internal reporting on outcomes. - Accessibility standards
- WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
- Accessibility testing
-
As a solution aimed at healthcare professionals, our service is not generally used by individuals who use assistive technology however, User Accessibility testing is still undertaken with the needs of individuals who might experience access issues in mind. Initial builds acknowledge accessibility as a priority and we ensure minimum standards are built in such as using colour contrast of at least 4.5:1 wherever possible.
User testing asks testers to review the solution using criteria including, but not limited to:
- Navigation elements are consistent throughout the site
- Form fields have accurate labels
- Headings are used in logical order
Where issues are identified, these are fed back to the development team, addressed and a new round of testing takes place. It is Consultant Connect policy to ensure accessibility issues are acknowledged and addressed prior to releasing any new updates or enhancements. - API
- No
- Customisation available
- Yes
- Description of customisation
-
Consultant Connect provides a range of different types of communication and is highly configurable to meet buyer's requirements. Customers can customise a range of features on the Consultant Connect service depending on their role. Access by users (whether provider, requester or managerial) to the system is subject to role-based access controls.
Managers can customise features of our service subject to written approval and customisation takes place through the web portal.
Scaling
- Independence of resources
- The online system is resilient and fully scalable and cannot be impacted by sudden increases in demand. We have carefully managed our growth and infrastructure to ensure resilience and capacity is significantly above the maximum usage we have modelled.
Analytics
- Service usage metrics
- Yes
- Metrics types
-
We provide real time dashboards and regular reports that cover a vast range of service metrics not limited to call/message/photo usage, answer rates, and granular information about outcomes and %'s. Outcome and quality metrics underline the effectiveness of our service recording the number of hospital visits avoided.
Reporting systems are flexible and can be controlled by users to generate bespoke reports which, for example, detail usage at practice or clinician level.
We also undertake National Consultant Network reporting, and there are monthly reports generated at the beginning of each month detailing usage, call frequency, call duration and much more. - Reporting types
-
- Real-time dashboards
- Regular reports
- Reports on request
Resellers
- Supplier type
- Not a reseller
Staff security
- Staff security clearance
- Conforms to BS7858:2019
- Government security clearance
- Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)
Asset protection
- Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
- Yes
- Data storage and processing locations
- United Kingdom
- User control over data storage and processing locations
- No
- Datacentre security standards
- Managed by a third party
- Penetration testing frequency
- At least once a year
- Penetration testing approach
- ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
- Protecting data at rest
- Encryption of all physical media
- Data sanitisation process
- Yes
- Data sanitisation type
- Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
- Equipment disposal approach
- In-house destruction process
Data importing and exporting
- Data export approach
- Users can export their data by running the appropriate report on our web portal (including what team they need to see data for and the date ranges), then clicking "export" and selecting either CSV or XLSX.
- Data export formats
-
- CSV
- Other
- Other data export formats
-
- XLSX
- Data import formats
-
- CSV
- Other
- Other data import formats
Data-in-transit protection
- Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
-
- Private network or public sector network
- TLS (version 1.2 or above)
- Other
- Other protection between networks
- For certain types of data (i.e. NHS applications like PDS with patient sensitive information) we prefer to use HSCN to transmit information.
- Data protection within supplier network
- TLS (version 1.2 or above)
Availability and resilience
- Guaranteed availability
- 99.9% availability is guaranteed and this guarantee has never been breached since commencing service delivery in June 2015. Our Terms and Conditions provide for contract termination should the level of service fall below that promised.
- Approach to resilience
-
Our data centre set up is based on a dual strategy and data is held within the UK and services engaged are ISO 27001 accredited.
Details available on request - Outage reporting
- We undertake ongoing monitoring of our service and reporting any outages is undertaken via alerts on the App or web browser application and via automated email alerts to all clients. If appropriate, we also announce issues via social media channels and on our website. Alerts on the App and browser take the form of a window overlaying the main functionality to ensure users are aware. Account managers also undertake proactive communication with clients via phone and additional emails to provide updates on progress to repair and resolve any issues and resume services.
Identity and authentication
- User authentication needed
- Yes
- User authentication
-
- 2-factor authentication
- Username or password
- Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
- Users must explicitly be granted access - this is done by approved internal Consultant Connect administrators for specific organisations, and requires that the user prove they have permission to access sensitive information.
- Access restriction testing frequency
- At least every 6 months
- Management access authentication
- 2-factor authentication
Audit information for users
- Access to user activity audit information
- Users have access to real-time audit information
- How long user audit data is stored for
- User-defined
- Access to supplier activity audit information
- Users have access to real-time audit information
- How long supplier audit data is stored for
- User-defined
- How long system logs are stored for
- At least 12 months
Standards and certifications
- ISO/IEC 27001 certification
- No
- ISO 28000:2007 certification
- No
- CSA STAR certification
- No
- PCI certification
- No
- Cyber essentials
- Yes
- Cyber essentials plus
- Yes
- Other security certifications
- Yes
- Any other security certifications
-
- DCB0129 Clinical Risk Management
- ISO 27001 and 27018 certified datacentres
- NHS DSPT (Organisation Data Services Code: 8JC53)
- Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC)
Security governance
- Named board-level person responsible for service security
- Yes
- Security governance certified
- Yes
- Security governance standards
- Other
- Other security governance standards
-
Cyber Essentials Plus (certified 21/02/2024)
Digital Technology Assessment Criteria
Welsh Accord on the Sharing of Personal Information
Cyber Security Procurement Tool (Scotland)
DCB0129 Clinical Risk Management
All systems are hosted at ISO 27001, 27018 and 9001 certified datacentres
NHS DSPT (Organisation Data Services Code: 8JC53)
ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 - Information security policies and processes
- Our Head of Governance, Roger Tweedale, reviews policies/procedures annually, and more often should issues/concerns arise. Policies include: - Information Governance Policy - Incidents Complaints and Feedback Policy - Privacy Policy - Business Continuity Policy All policies align with legislative/regulatory requirements (e.g. GDPR, DPA 2018). We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) and staff are required to report any breaches or suspected breaches immediately to our Head of Governance, in line with the Incidents Complaints and Feedback Policy who then undertakes the appropriate action e.g. reporting to the ICO, clients or other stakeholders. All staff review the Information Governance Policy upon recruitment and complete a 3-yearly IG Training Module with an 80% pass rate requirement recorded in a Training Planner. Training is comprehensive and addresses, for example, use of regularly updated complex passwords, locking screens and minimising use of paper documentation. The HR Team track adherence to the Training Planner using the Credentially System (100% compliance). All staff sign comprehensive Confidentiality Agreements. Systems are protected by next generation firewalls, and we use current antimalware/antispyware/antivirus software. Strict processes govern data transfer; we use AES 256 end-to-end encryption to ensure security and agree robust information sharing agreements with clients.
Operational security
- Configuration and change management standard
- Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
- Configuration and change management approach
-
Approved changes are entered into our Change Management Log and prioritised jointly by the CEO/CIO.
Developments are prioritised with work allocated to a Project Lead and Tech Teams, at a fortnightly ‘Sprint’ meeting.
Designs are reviewed by the Clinical Safety Officer to ensure relevant risks are being addressed.
All aspects of the system builds/changes are tracked using GitHub software and subject to ongoing testing.
Several further checks are undertaken on completion:
Coding check
Check against functional/user/governance requirements
Once final checks have been signed off we perform a final round of user testing on all key platforms and perform ongoing monitoring. - Vulnerability management type
- Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
- Vulnerability management approach
-
The vulnerability management sub-principle and related processes within AWS and GCP services are subject to audit at least annually under ISO 27001:2013, AICPA SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3 and PCI-DSS certification programs. These certifications are recognised by ENISA under the Cloud Certification Schemes. The controls in relation to vulnerability management are validated independently at least annually under the certification programs.
Patch management is undertaken in line with NCSC best practice.
Crest certified Penetration Tests, with scopes approved by Operations, Product Development and Governance Teams, are undertaken annually without exception. - Protective monitoring type
- Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
- Protective monitoring approach
-
The Consultant Connect App has been developed in accordance with Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Standards. Systems within AWS and GCP are extensively instrumented to monitor key operational and security metrics.
The Incident Response teams employ industry-standard diagnostic procedures to drive resolution during business-impacting events. Staff operates 24x7x365 coverage.
AWS and GCP security monitoring tools help identify several types of denial of service (DoS) attacks. When DoS attacks are identified, the AWS and GCP incident response processes are initiated.
The protective monitoring sub-principle and related processes are subject to audit at least annually. - Incident management type
- Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
- Incident management approach
-
We have a comprehensive Incidents & Significant Events Policy which sits alongside the Business Continuity Policy to maintain a safe/sustainable/efficient and friendly environment that supports delivery of high-quality services and ensures compliance with all relevant legislative/regulatory requirements.
Our incident management flowchart identifies how users report incidents. Immediate action is taken by the Governance teams who log incidents and then categorise/prioritise/investigate and diagnose accordingly. Clients are notified within 2 working days in the form of a formal investigation report which makes up part of our incident and significant event register. Regular reviews of this register take place.
Secure development
- Approach to secure software development best practice
- Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed
Public sector networks
- Connection to public sector networks
- Yes
- Connected networks
- Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)
Social Value
- Social Value
-
Social Value
- Fighting climate change
- Covid-19 recovery
- Tackling economic inequality
- Equal opportunity
- Wellbeing
Fighting climate change
Consultant Connect are focussed on delivering remote services introducing significant benefits around our environmental performance including supporting clients to achieve Net Zero.
Our service delivers over 500,000 transactions annually and, on average, 66% of interactions result in patients no longer needing a trip to hospital. In addition to the reduced burden on secondary care services, greenhouse gas and harmful emissions resulting from car travel are minimised with our platform and patient engagement being entirely digital.
We monitor our environmental performance and staff receive training on minimising our/their impact on the environment in the performance of their duties and in day-to-day life.
As per our Environmental Sustainability Policy, we minimise our carbon footprint and eliminate unnecessary waste, promoting sustainable procurement (80% of goods/services procured on basis of ‘whole-life’ costs). We utilise local supply chains to minimise the environmental impact of logistics.
Home/remote working is a first option for staff, minimising carbon emissions from travel and reducing energy used for lighting/heating offices. We minimise fuel use/CO2 emissions by employing a local workforce and encourage staff to use public transport when unable to work remotely from home. We operate a cycle-to-work scheme and one of our directors regularly cycles to the office.
We have a 99% paperless office environment and implement recycling across offices and recyclable/reusable products are used where possible. Recycling bins are available at all our offices.
We work with our landlord at the Oxford Business Centre to ensure lighting is energy efficient and automatic doors and sensors ensure doors close to retain heat and lights are turned off when the office is empty.
As a digital service provider we generate very little waste however, comply with all waste disposal legislation; we comply with the WEEE directive when disposing of legacy computer/electrical equipment ensuring products are disposed of at approved sites.Covid-19 recovery
Consultant Connect’s service delivery model is a perfect fit to support the recovery from the impacts of Covid-19. We provide specialist advice and guidance (A&G) and referral triage to professionals across the health landscape to reduce referrals and enable clinicians to deal with conditions at first presentation.
Our specialist support significantly improves patient outcomes whilst reducing secondary care referrals and relieving pressure. In the 12-months to February 2022, our A&G service has supported clinicians to avoid 72% of referrals following around 63,000 interactions
Where outcomes were recorded by either the primary or secondary care clinician at the NHS South East London (SEL) CCG, our service resulted in:
• 51% referrals avoided (Elective Care)
• 63% referrals avoided (Mental Health)
• 40% of patients treated out of hospital (Urgent Care)
David Reith, Director of Commissioning Strategy with SEL CCG noted:
“We had long felt the benefits of Consultant Connect, but with COVID-19 it has really come into its own! We rapidly increased the number of specialties available on the service to ensure GPs could get as much support as possible and keep patients out of hospital. The feedback we have had from Consultant teams and GPs has been overwhelmingly positive.”
In Liverpool at the height of Covid, our service ameliorated significant pressures on local services. Chris Dewhurst, Clinical Director at the Liverpool Neo-Natal Partnership confirmed: “We lost seven of our 14 consultants due to shielding or isolation, 40% of the time available for clinicians to be in hospital. The service kept us going.”
Our system supports wider learning and sharing of best practice. Through their interactions with GPs one of our consultants told CC: “In the past year I have learnt so much about the way COVID-19 presents diagnostically early on.” That learning is then applied in all future interactions undertaken.Tackling economic inequality
Creating employment/training opportunities
Consultant Connect are committed to removing barriers to employment for local people from minority/under-represented groups, recruiting a diverse workforce reflecting local demographics; 5% of our team identify as being from a minority ethnic background with around 5 languages spoken across the organisation.
We appoint Consultants sustainably from the local area to ensure no negative impacts on the capacity of local health care providers. In addition, it is our policy to never use Consultants during their contracted NHS hours.
The positions we appoint to are usually highly specialised and we have a waiting list of 20 consultants across specialisms and can onboard consultants within 1-week.
CC will examine opportunities to appoint apprentices to support service delivery and anticipate these will be in administrative roles due to patient confidentiality requirements.
We invest heavily in training/development and following on from our extensive mandatory induction training covering areas not limited to safeguarding, information governance, health and safety and equality and diversity, internal training to support progression includes access to LinkedIn Learning. Furthermore, we offer Learning & Development sessions to harness career progression. Current active Learning & Development sessions include: Managing self, wellbeing at work, creating a positive workplace culture, project management, presentation skills, excel skills and running improvement projects.
Our investment in our team supports internal promotion; our Head of Communications progress from an entry-level account management position into their current role.
To support employment and training in contract areas, we source 80% of business-related goods and services using local suppliers if possible (e.g. caterers, cleaners and stationary suppliers) and urge staff to spend locally, supporting regional business growth/sustainability. Trade is prioritised with SMEs and local companies who seek to embed social value within their own organisations (e.g. tackling social problems, improving life chances, protecting the environment, etc).Equal opportunity
Consultant Connect promotes equality of opportunity for all staff/job applicants in line with the Human Rights Act 1998, Equality Act 2010, the NHS Constitution and creates a safe working environment in which all individuals can carry out their roles, free from discrimination/harassment and with the same opportunities to progress.
Comprehensive policies/procedures underpinning workforce management are set out in our HR Policy and Staff Handbook. We advertise positions across a range of media (NHS Website, social media etc.) and through local community groups to reach a diverse range of applicants.
Induction training covers equality and diversity in-depth, supporting staff and management to help them recognise their unconscious biases.
We monitor our performance, embedding equality monitoring within our ISO 9001 quality management regime undertaking Equality Impact Assessments prior to any service/policy change and make reasonable adjustments. We audit all elements of our service, undertaking annual premises accessibility audits and staff surveys which include questions on diversity (e.g. questions on quality of communication and staff involvement). We can translate communications into different languages and have for example translated our entire portal/App into Welsh to support Welsh language users.
We don’t restrict opportunities for people to take time off unless this impacts patient safety. Flexible working arrangements support work-life balance and staff who undertake carer duties. We accommodate the faith/cultural needs of our workforce providing time off and/or flexible working during, for example, religious/cultural festivals or important events.Wellbeing
Consultant Connect is signed up to The Mental Health at Work Commitment Framework and recognise that the mental wellbeing of our staff is one of the most critical determinants of ours and our clients success.
Staff wellbeing is a priority and our parent company’s November 2020 CQC report confirmed: “Staff we spoke with were extremely positive about working for the service, they felt valued, supported and told us the leaders were always visible.” CC have embedded this approach into our day-to-day management of the team ensuring their physical and mental wellbeing is prioritised.
Consultant Connect is a Great Place To Work certified company as well as, ranking 63rd in the UK for Best Workplaces for Wellbeing – Small (20-50 employees). We are also ranked 78th UK’s Best Workplaces for Women – Small (20-50 employees). Consultant Connect was created to help people. This desire to help people is a key part of our culture. 97% of employees at Consultant Connect say it is a great place to work, compared to 54% of employees at a typical UK based company.
Pricing
- Price
- £36,000.00 a licence a year
- Discount for educational organisations
- No
- Free trial available
- No