Clinical Consultant provides advice and challenges current practice to improve quality and safety
Claire Stocks started as a Clinical Consultant in our team in the beginning of June, through our close-knit partner Jora Health Ltd. In this article, the experienced NHS nurse, specialised within the deteriorating patient portfolio, highlights the value of clinical expertise in customer projects, and talks about how she perceives her own role.
The role of a Clinical Consultant is varied: the tasks range from working on client calls, optimising workflows, and reviewing clinical risk documents to being on site, understanding a new client’s current ways of working, or supporting a project Go-Live through ‘floorwalking’ and providing critical ‘at the elbow’ support. In the context of Medanets, this means providing clinical advice and support on our mobile solution. Patient safety is at the heart of all tasks.
Patient outcomes are number one priority
‘The interests of clinical risk and patient safety must be at the forefront of any design decisions of the mobile solution. My job as Clinical Consultant is to support the client in recognising any potential safety risks throughout the implementation’, Claire notes. ‘For me, it’s critical that patient outcomes are our number one priority, closely followed by improving staff experiences.’
‘I worked as a nurse in the NHS for 20 years and have clinical experience in critical care, emergency and acute medicine. My last role at County Durham and Darlington was working as Deputy Associate Director of Nursing for Patient Safety, Mortality and Deteriorating patient – a big demand but immensely rewarding. To see improvements to patient safety and quality whilst improving staff experience was what kept me in such a demanding role for so long. I have always been passionate about improving healthcare, so I’m very happy to continue with the same themes while working with Medanets’, Claire says.
Clinical consultant can also – in a constructive manner, of course – challenge the current practice. ‘Often, we become accustomed to the culture in our own organisations; “This is just the way we do things here”. However, sometimes offering other options in workflows might be the way to optimise and improve quality and safety’, Claire states. ‘Healthcare is a challenging environment, so any improvements to quality and efficiency should be explored. There should be no barriers in place to do this’, she clarifies.
Claire knows what she talks about – she has lived the experience of the EHR and Medanets implementation in the role of a customer before. ‘Additionally, thanks to my background, I can act as a subject matter expert on topics such as Acute Kidney Injury, Sepsis, and Early Warning Scores. With 20 years NHS experience, it’s fair to say I have a good understanding of the challenges of working in such a complex environment.’
‘We are all in this together’
It was the ethos of the Medanets team that convinced Claire to take the big decision to leave her job in the NHS and join us.
‘Having been part of the design and implementation of Medanets at the County Durham and Darlington NHS Trust, I saw firsthand the passion and drive from the Medanets team. I could see this was something special. It was a big decision to move from the NHS to a supplier, and I didn’t take it lightly, but it was the ethos of the company that convinced me to make the move. The passion and drive that I witnessed before I started are still there, and more evident now than ever. I love the way the team has such a “can do” attitude despite all the barriers and challenges they face’, Claire says.
‘Staff morale is high, and despite lots of remote working, the team always come together to get the job done. I think this is reflective of how we work with clients too. It’s not an “us and them”. It’s a “we are all in this together”. I’m very happy to be part of this patient-focused, caring and compassionate team’, she concludes.
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