In response to COVID-19, vCreate is now available to Adult ICUs

     

Due to restricted family visiting during the COVID-19 outbreak, many Adult Intensive Care Units are seeking new ways to keep families and friends of patients updated. Separation of critically ill patients will be a major source of emotional distress for families and healthcare workers. Synchronous ‘live’ communication (e.g. phone, video calls) between very busy critical care teams and patient families will be challenging.

vCreate offers an alternative approach that enables staff to create short update videos at convenient times without disrupting care for critically unwell patients. Patient families report reduced anxiety, plus it can help improve staff morale. Videos also provide an important memory for all patients and families.

vCreate is an NHS Trusted video messaging service originally designed for neonatal and paediatric units to securely share video and photo updates with parents and wider family to help minimise separation anxiety. It is currently approved for use in over 75 units across the UK and over 30,000 videos have been sent to 6,500 families to date.

To help with the specific challenges brought about through COVID-19, we are now able to provide flexible, pay-as-you-go monthly pricing with NO annual commitment and the facility to switch it off when you no longer need it.

We are also able to offer a significant reduction in the usual monthly rate during the outbreak period, thanks to support from our technology partners. This offer is available immediately to any NHS Adult ICU throughout the duration of COVID-19.

In that light and to ensure fairness, the cost of vCreate depends upon the number of beds in your unit as this is a useful indication of likely usage. Please contact us with this number so we can provide you with a monthly cost for your unit.

Implementing vCreate within your unit

The following outlines the process for implementing vCreate as quickly as possible:

1. To request an immediate online demo for your team please visit www.vcreate.tv/book-a-demo or email theteam@vcreate.tv. We will facilitate a demo for you as soon as possible.

2. We are currently seeking central NHS governance approval. In the meantime, if you are in a hospital not yet using vCreate, it will be likely that your Trust's Information Governance team will require the completion of a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) which we will complete for you. As speed is of the essence and delays will hinder the positive impact that this service will have, we suggest you ask your IG team to prioritise assessment and approval.

3. You can either pay for the service directly or speak to your unit charity about funding vCreate on a rolling monthly basis. We can provide you with a PDF to forward on to them that shows likely costs and how supporting vCreate within your unit would work. You'll also need an iPad; we've found that the least expensive 32Gb WiFi iPad works perfectly well.

4. Engage your IT team so they are ready to configure your iPad to an available WiFi network and setup the unit email address you'll need for your vCreate service. We will send you all the information they will need to do this.

5. Nominate two "vCreate Champions" to support and mentor colleagues to ensure that families are kept up-to-date during this challenging time. We will liaise with them directly to setup training and onboarding.

We appreciate the urgency of the situation and we are prioritising the onboarding of units to help mitigate the challenges that COVID-19 brings to families, carers and friends of patients in your unit.

We are here to support you and your teams and will do whatever we possibly can to help. Please don't hesitate to get in touch, or if you have any questions.

EMAIL: theteam@vcreate.tv
CALL: 0333 121 8422