NHS Innovation Expo

Last week team DrDoctor descended on Manchester for the NHS Healthcare Innovation expo. It was an interesting event, with a strong NHS England presence demonstrating their resolve to bring new, more efficient ways of working to the health service.

This was the biggest show we've exhibited at so far. We designed our stand in line with the 'House of Care' theme, with a home fitted laminate floor, sofa and pictures on the walls. 3 hours into laying flooring on the Sunday the thought did cross my mind that perhaps we had been a little ambitious. The tide turned quickly however, the stand came together beautifully and really stood out.

Although we didn't get much time to attend the presentations, the feedback from other delegates was very positive with the event functioning as a brilliant forum for information sharing. On our stand we had plenty of interest, with lots of CCG's coming over to talk about how we could help bridge the gap between social, primary and acute care. There was also lots of interest in our new care planning tools, which will work with the Year of Care framework and it's potential to cut down unnecessary attendances.

Dinner on Monday night was a great opportunity to debate Care.Data (we're fans of the concept, but the consensus is communication could have been better). I was lucky enough to sit next to the brilliant Bryn from Maternity Neighbourhood. Her story of using tech to empower midwives and fix a very broken birthing system in the USA was inspiring.

Day two dawned bright and was another great chance to do what we like best, talk about DrDoctor. The stand caught the eye of Shelagh Fogarty from Radio 5, leading to a quick fire on-air demo and panel discussion of technology in healthcare. You canlisten here. It’s always a pleasure to talk people through the system, the various touch points, and watch their face as it all comes together into “ah-ha!” moment. It’s then you realise DrDoctor is about more than just online bookings or reminders – it’s a conversation from the moment care starts.

The one disappointment of the show was that whilst there was a strong senior NHS presence in the speaking sessions, we didn't see them on the exhibition floor. It would have been great to demonstrate what we're working on, so here is an invitation - senior policymakers, our door is open! Come see how we can transform the way care is delivered using common sense technology anyone can use.