Patients in Dumfries and Galloway and Greater Glasgow and Clyde are the first in Scotland to benefit from a new technology that allows faster diagnosis and assessment of skin conditions.

A new digital dermatology pathway will allow primary care doctors and nurses to capture and share images of patients’ skin conditions with dermatologists using a secure mobile app.

The technology has the potential to streamline referrals, speed up diagnoses and, ultimately, reduce waiting times.

After launching initially in two West of Scotland health boards earlier this month, the digital dermatology pathway is set to be made available nationally by next spring.

The pathway is one of the first innovations to be approved for national rollout through the Accelerated National Innovation Adoption pathway, coordinated by NHS Golden Jubilee’s Centre for Sustainable Delivery – Scotland’s national healthcare innovation, collaboration and clinical leadership unit.

GP Locum and Primary Care Clinical Lead for the programme, Dr Beth Kerr, said the tool has been designed with the needs of primary care as a priority:

“This pathway is to help us to best help our patients with dermatology problems. The app is intuitive and easy to use and gives the opportunity to quickly take images which are then seamlessly added to our SCI gateway [a national system that integrates primary and secondary care systems] dermatology referrals with a few clicks.

“The process is safe and secure allowing us to use the app with confidence. Adding an image ensures referrals are as informative as possible for secondary care enabling them to triage patient referrals effectively and efficiently. This in turn will bring benefit back to ourselves and improve our patients’ journey, which I look forward to seeing realised soon.”

Dermatology is one of the ten speciality areas in Scotland with the largest waiting lists.

Public Health Scotland data shows 6,810 more people joined the waiting list for a dermatology outpatient appointment between 2023 and 2024.

The Scottish government Chief Scientist Office announced in 2023 it would invest £1.8m in a new digital dermatology pathway in response.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said this marks an “important first step” towards significantly improving patient outcomes:

“The national adoption of innovations, such as the digital dermatology pathway, will be critical to delivering our vision of a Scotland where people live longer, healthy and fulfilling lives.

“This is an important first step to rolling out a new service which has the potential to significantly reduce waiting times and improve patient outcomes in a specialty that we know is one of the busiest with demand for outpatient appointments.”

The use of digital images as part of the new referral pathway will allow senior dermatology decision-makers to triage, diagnose and assess skin conditions without the patient being physically present.

Images will be securely stored on the National Digital Platform for Health and Social Care before being attached to the GP referral. No images are stored on devices.

Following triage, a patient may be offered a face-to-face clinic appointment, directed to a more suitable service or discharged with advice on how to manage their skin concern.

Dr Fiona Macdonald, Consultant Dermatologist and Centre for Sustainable Delivery Clinical Lead for Dermatology Specialty Delivery Group, said tele-dermatology provides the same level of access to high quality care and helps dermatologists carry out robust referral triage:

“The new system will help support the referral process where appropriate, and patients will still have the choice of whether or not to include an image. If they choose not to then the referral will be processed efficiently in the usual way.

“Once fully implemented, the new national digital dermatology pathway will help ensure that the most urgent cases can be prioritised and provides quicker reassurance and advice for those who do not require a face-to-face appointment.”

 

Read more: NHS launches good ideas accelerator; Adopting innovation can be ‘Once for Scotland’; Collaboration will reimagine patient pathways; Insight: Mapping pathways to transform the NHS;

 

Sign up to our bulletin sent twice a week so you don’t miss out on the latest health and social care news.