Trauma app shortlisted for prestigious digital innovation award

A digital app developed by the West of Scotland Innovation Hub, hosted by NHSGGC, has been shortlisted for a prestigious award. 

The Trauma App, which has been used in clinical care at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital since 2021, has been nominated in the Digital Service Transformation category at the Digital Health and Care Scotland 2024 conference. 

Instead of patient notes recorded on paper, the app allows patient data to be collected more efficiently and shared throughout the care pathway as required. 

More than 1380 cases have been recorded on the App with an extension recently implemented in the Royal Hospital for Children Trauma unit.  Within three months of the introduction of the App there was virtually no use of the paper process. 

The West of Scotland Innovation Hub worked with NHS GGC Trauma Team, Edinburgh-based developer Daysix, and EMQUIRE (Emergency Medicine Quality Improvement, Innovation, Research and Education in the QEUH, Glasgow) funded by Innovate UK for two years to design, develop and implement a digital solution to support the trauma care pathway and data collection throughout the service. 

Mark Lilley, Paediatric Major Trauma Coordinator, Royal Hospital for Children, said: “As a Major Trauma Coordinator, I use the trauma app frequently. My level of note taking in a stressful major trauma resuscitation event has improved dramatically. It has a clear, logical flow and is very easy to use.  

“I follow these patients during their onward hospital journey and it is easy/clear to refer back to these notes to be reminded of all the critical interventions that occurred - especially as it links directly into our hospital electronic patient records; enhancing the full patient journey through admission to discharge.” 

The app is fully integrated into current NHS systems, being one of the first in its kind to adopt innovative approaches integrating through the National Digital Platform for the transfer of information into core NHS clinical Applications.