Accessing the latest policies and procedures has always been a challenge for NHS frontline staff, sometimes because computer terminals are not immediately available, or because staff are working remotely in the community and don’t have quick access to the intranet. This is a significant barrier to efficiency and compliance, and ultimately can lead to patient safety issues and clinical negligence cases. Clinical negligence cost the NHS about £8.16bn last year, which is partly due a lack of compliance with policies and procedures. Consider this alongside high NHS vacancy rates and increasing use of temporary or ‘bank’ staff who may not be familiar with trust policies and you have a problem that every NHS hospital needs to solve.

SJIC tenant Diligram has been focusing its AI and machine learning expertise on this problem for some time and now has launched the MyStaff App Document Management System (DMS), which can be accessed securely on a personal, or work, smartphone. The App makes it so much easier and quicker for staff to access up-to-date policies and procedures so trusts can stay compliant, minimising risks. Having initially developed MyStaff app with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, comprising 15,000 staff in three major hospitals, other NHS hospitals are now recognising the app’s significant benefits. In September, University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust will fully roll out the MyStaff App solution to its 14,000 staff.

But the service that MyStaff App provides is much wider than just immediate access to up-to-date documents, it provides an end-to-end document management system, reducing the time in creating, distributing and managing these vital documents. With MyStaff App the right version of any document is always available to all staff in real time, with reminders and alerts which help with compliance. This is especially important during industrial action when staff unfamiliar with local policies or how to use equipment can be quickly brought up to speed.

Diligram is now a client of Innovate UK EDGE, a support offer for disruptive innovators provided by the St John’s Innovation and Growth team and Exemplas Ltd in the East of England and funded nationally by Innovate UK. The company’s CEO, Leslie Golding,  explains how useful the service has been,

“We came to the St John’s Innovation Centre team with a great problem to have: a predicted huge demand for our app on the horizon and how could we scale our business to work with potentially 200 plus NHS trusts. Dan Dearing, our Innovation & Growth Specialist, has provided invaluable advice and support – in fact Dan and his team was a key reason why we moved our UK HQ to St John’s Innovation Centre. Dan has opened the door to funding opportunities for us and helped us create a killer pitch deck which we’re now using with potential investors.”

“It’s been brilliant to work with the energetic and ambitious team at Diligram. They are a small company today, but they are building strong foundations to scaleup rapidly: it’s exciting to join them on their journey,” says Dan Dearing.

In 2023 MyStaff App won the Health Tech Digital Award and was a finalist in the Healthcare Wicked Problem (HETT) and Health Tech World awards for ‘Best Digital Health App’. You can find out more at Mystaffapp.io