The Royal Cornwall Hospital NHS Trust trials LAMP testing with Liberty Create
The challenge
The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT) employs five thousand people at three hospitals. Early in 2020, the Trust was chosen to be a Phase 2 trial site for the LAMP test — a simple all-in-one saliva test to detect Covid-19, giving results in 30 minutes, offering huge potential for mass testing.
Of course, the Trust already had Covid-19 testing in place to be sure staff were safe to be at work. All of their staff were regularly taking lateral flow tests and entering their test results on a system based on Microsoft 365. This was working, but the system wasn’t built to allow the Trust to record LAMP test results too.
Weeks to launch LAMP tests
The LAMP trial was starting in literally a few weeks. The Trust’s e-Health Transformation Manager knew about Liberty Create, our low-code platform, and how is it used to build apps ten times as fast as usual. The Trust approached Netcall to see if they could build a new solution together in time for the first LAMP tests.
“Using Liberty Create has opened our eyes to the potential of low-code. As we work with Netcall across a wide range of transformational activities, we will consider how else this can be used.”
Ian Nicholls
eHealth Transformation Manager, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
The solution
As soon as the lab has the results, the system automatically triggers a message to each person. This supported contact tracing across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and was the best way to prevent the virus from spreading.
The system provides test results in real-time and the hospital’s staff can see their own test results as soon as they are ready. The laboratory team uses barcodes to match each sample to the member of staff it came from. They can see everyone’s samples and results on the system, and can see immediately if there are any queries or any causes for concern.
The Trust’s management can also see test results in real-time. They have a simple interface where they can manage staff testing and view test results, by organisation and by department.
If they need to add a new group of people, there is a quick way to do this by uploading their records in bulk. They can also edit notification messages and emails the system sends at any time.
The Trust’s reporting of lateral flow tests increased significantly from May 2021, when the app went live. The next phase was to integrate the app with the laboratory machine, cutting out the need to scan the samples and import the test results as a CSV file.
The Trust saw an increase in the number of tests recorded, simply because the app made it easier for staff to send in their test results.
The results
Netcall worked with the Trust to design a solution aligned to the hospitals’ needs
Amazingly it only took 14 days to build their first working product
The Trust’s new ‘C19 App’ was online before the LAMP test programme went live
RCHT staff started using it to submit their lateral flow test results. Soon the majority of people working at the Trust were using the new app, with 4,620 users registered on the system
Each person submitting a LAMP test scans a barcode with their phone, drops the sample at a designated collection point, where it is taken to the lab for testing. The lab uses the barcodes when processing the samples, saving time and making testing more accurate
Hospital staff send their results from any device, without needing to download a particular app — they just use their own phone to log on to a secure portal and enter the result, which saves time
The system has two-factor authentication to keep it secure, ensuring results are always entered by the correct person
“We received fantastic support from the Netcall project team and the solution was delivered ahead of the lab being ready. Our own agile collaboration approach meant we could identify any fixes we needed very fast. The turnaround and speed of change was really good. We enjoyed a very a-typical supplier experience.”
Ian Nicholls
eHealth Transformation Manager, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
Impact
14 Days
for a full working product
Real-time
reporting
Easy To Use
intuitive interface
Open your eyes to the potential of low-code
We work with Trusts like this to design solutions aligned to the hospitals’ needs – and it can be as fast as 14 days to build the working product
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