NHS Rotherham CCG - Consultant Led Tele-Dermatology Service

This service will enable the referring clinician to send a message and images (photographs) to the Provider and receive a timely diagnosis and management plan for patients with a skin lesion of diagnostic uncertainty and also to diagnose and advise on treatment plans for other dermatological conditions.

Teledermatology is a technology that supports the DH initiative ‘Digital First’ by reducing unnecessary face-to-face contact between patients and healthcare professionals. The benefits of this technology, as outlined on the digital.innovation.nhs.uk website are:

• Reducing unnecessary face-to-face interaction so that appointments can be given to the people who really need or would prefer them.
• Fitting in with people’s busy lives and delivering faster and more convenient services.
• Improving patient choice and satisfaction levels and enhancing quality of care.
• Helping to deliver efficiency gains by reducing face-to-face interaction.
• Empowering patients to take control of their own healthcare needs and promoting self-care.
• Improving collaboration across health care, social care and industry.
• Helping to cut carbon emissions by reducing unnecessary travel to appointments.

This innovative diagnostic service will allow specialists to quickly examine cases from photographic images, recommend referrals to secondary care where appropriate but otherwise triaging cases back to the community with a suitable management plan. This will reduce the number of new appointments and associated follow-ups in dermatology, releasing resources and freeing up hospital space.