How online therapy appointments can open treatment to more people
The session heard from Gary Lee, a High Intensity Therapist, working with the Psychological Wellbeing Service from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT).
He shared his experiences of using the Attend Anywhere platform for his work with clients.
Patients have tended to relax, feel more comfortable and engage with therapy well.
He said some patients still met face-to-face if needed but the remote sessions had worked incredibly well. And that patient recovery results had been remarkable.
People who are unable to leave their house, could now have therapy thanks to the online sessions.
He acknowledged a concern that remote appointments do exclude those without a computer or Internet access.
But he said face-to-face meetings can exclude people too – including those who have travel difficulties or who cannot meet because of social anxiety.
He felt having the choice of online and in-person appointments had enriched the delivery of the service they could offer.
Trial 'Attend Anywhere'
Gary shared a link so that event participants could trial 'Attend Anywhere' in advance of an appointment - to make sure they are comfortable using it.
Tell us about your experience
The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted a big shift to services, appointments and information moving online.
Have you had a recent experience of an online or telephone appointment? Tell us about it - we want to hear what's been good and where care could have been better.
Your feedback can help services understand what works well and improve care where it needs it.
Accessible appointments
The session also heard how North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust (NWAngliaFT) has adapted the 'Attend Anywhere' platform to make appointments more accessible.
Maria Finch, Head of Patient Experience at the NHS Trust which runs Peterborough City and Hinchingbrooke Hospitals, told us it could also add in British Sign Language and other language interpreters for patients.
This was after they worked closely with 'Attend Anywhere' to make the platform more accessible.
"From a patient experience thing, I think what we were concerned with was making it inclusive and available for everybody."
It wasn't kind of geared up for people who didn't communicate as English as their first language, so we had to do a lot of work in the Trust looking at options of making it available for people who had who had a different language or a different way of communicating."
