07 June 2017

Nurses can capture special moments in the baby's care diary that can then be securely accessed by the parents on any device.

The hospital’s neonatal unit (NNU) has been trialling a bespoke platform developed for the NHS by Leeds-based video technology specialist, vCreate.

The personalised video initiative, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, allows nurses at the hospital to use any device with a camera to record short video updates that can then be securely accessed by parents on any device. 

vCreate says the service is managed and controlled by NNU staff at all times. Videos are stored securely on its platform with parents registering for an account. Once approved by the staff, videos are assigned to the appropriate parent account which is deleted following their baby leaving the unit.

As well as enabling parents to receive reassuring updates on their baby's well-being when away from the unit, vCreate says the service means NNU staff spend less time answering queries over phone and more time caring for children.

It adds that they only record videos when they have time, the process has no impact on their clinical duties, and the videos do not contain any sensitive medical information.

The RHCG now plans to make vCreate available to consenting parents of the 600 babies it cares for each year. It is also considering extending use of the system to share more general news updates with parents.

vCreate says its aim is to bring secure video messaging to all 200 NHS neonatal units by 2018. It has launched a public appeal for corporate sponsorship to make it happen at no cost to the NHS.