A tech solution that lets people have video consultations with their doctor has achieved international recognition.

NHS Near Me has been used for nearly 3,000 video consultations since it was introduced in the Highlands more than a year ago – saving patients and doctors more than 350,000 miles of travelling.

Now the service has been commended by the US-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement.

NHS Highland’s Near Me lead Clare Morrison said: “This work aims to reduce the impact of travel on patient care and improve equity of access to services by enabling patients to attend video appointments from their homes or from a local clinic.

“We are absolutely delighted for our work to be recognised internationally by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement which is a world leader in healthcare improvement. We started this work as a small pilot in Caithness, which was then turned into a Highland-wide service.”

Ms Morrison says other NHS bodies are interested in the idea, but adds there is still more to do:

“However, we still have a long way to go to fully scale this up. We have the infrastructure in place for NHS Near Me across the Highlands so patients anywhere can have a video consultation from home.

“We now need all of our clinical services to use NHS Near Me whenever it is clinically appropriate, so that patients are only asked to travel if it is necessary. This is about delivering person-centred care, as well as maximising the environmental benefit.”

Tejal K. Gandhi of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement said unequal access to health services was a patient safety concern.

He said Highland health bosses had “successfully harnessed technology to improve not only operational efficiency, but also the overall quality and safety of care for their patients.”