A Glasgow health-tech firm has estimated that large Scottish health boards could save an estimated 1,000 hours of clinical time by automating the ADHD patient contact pathway.
Red Star has developed a platform to respond to the massive increase in referrals for the condition which is putting ‘significant pressure’ on NHS mental health services.
According to Scottish Government figures, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde alone saw a 1,000 per cent increase in referrals for assessment of adult ADHD to Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs) over the past three years.
The same report, published in 2023, showed that in 2012 Central Fife (population 150,000) received 59 referrals for ADHD assessment in one year. In 2022 the same area received 297 referrals for the year, a 500% increase.
Andrew Conkie, CEO of Red Star, which works with health boards on a number of automation-related projects, said: “ADHD screening and assessments involve extensive questionnaires for both the patient and their parents and partners. This part alone takes up a huge amount of admin and clinical time in sending them out, and chasing them up. And paper-based processes are challenging when working against an extensive backlog.
“The Red Star platform is a comprehensive solution across all parts of the pathway and removes all the paper-based processes allowing patients, parents and partners to complete these online with automated reminders.”
He added: “In terms of the savings, we have removed the manual admin tasks allowing clinical staff to focus on treating patients. We estimate that rolling out remote monitoring alone in a large health board will save 1,000 hours of clinical time as patients often require three or more appointments to titrate their medications to the correct dose.”
The company’s system, which fully integrates with NHS Scotland platforms, is involved in a pilot study to evaluate time and cost savings as part of a detailed evidence gathering process.
He added: “Our patient portal means that patients can gather and submit their own medical monitoring information, reducing the need for face-to-face appointments. Patients are sent notifications and reminders to enter details. Clinicians will be prompted to view the information once received and the remote monitoring can be used during both dose titration and scheduled reviews.”
“We are currently getting interest from private providers who are now finding the same problems,” adds Conkie, whose findings are backed by recent data produced by NHS England, and published in April, as part of its ‘ADHD Taskforce‘.
The report recommended following Lord Darzi’s recommendations to ‘harness technology to simplify and speed up
clinical processes and systematically gather data on ADHD across England’.
“Given the established adverse outcomes and costs of unsupported ADHD, there is an urgent need to address early determinants of adverse outcomes and reduce waiting times in cost-effective, evidence-supported way,” the paper said.