Isla Care

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Dermatology and Isla Care

Dermatology at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust have the need to be able to simply and securely capture and remotely request high quality photos, videos and digital outcome measures (PROMS) from patients; which is then seamlessly stored against the patient’s record and can be shared with other clinical teams where clinically required.

As part of the shift towards working remotely, clinicians are able to avoid unnecessary face-to-face appointments and automate their workflows to support ongoing monitoring, thus building up a rich dataset of patient media which empowers real time and proactive clinical decision-making.

Who are Isla Care?

Isla Care are a software health care developer based in the UK, with headquarters in London.

Isla Care Limited
Registration Number: 12108076
Address: Isla Care, Camden Gateway, 349 Royal College St, London NW1 9QS

You can find more information on the Isla Care website https://www.islacare.co.uk/

How does the process work?

The Isla Process: “Virtual” Assessment

The Isla app is used for patients who have been referred by their GP to the dermatology department at Treliske Hospital. Whilst the waiting time for a face-to-face appointment is several months, some of our specialists are available to review cases virtually and may be able to provide advice within a few weeks of referral.

A short time after the referral is made by the GP and received at the hospital, patients are sent a link by text or email requesting that they complete a questionnaire with more information about their skin problem. This should take around 15-20 minutes. At the end of the questionnaire, patients are asked to take some good quality pictures of their skin problem on a phone or tablet. The links for the questionnaire and picture are very quick and straightforward to use. They allow information to be submitted immediately, without any need to login or create passwords.

Once patients have submitted their questionnaire and pictures, the information will be reviewed by one of our dermatology specialists and a letter will be sent back to the patient and GP. The letter will summarise the opinion of the specialist and advise the next steps. In some cases, it will be possible to suggest a clear treatment plan that the GP and patients can commence without the need for a hospital appointment. In other cases, patients may be added to a waiting list for a particular clinic or treatment. In some cases, it will not be possible to make a diagnosis or treatment suggestion based on the virtual assessment and patients will be added to the waiting list for a face-to-face assessment.

Where is my data stored?

Isla’s cloud infrastructure is located in London (Europe-West2) and is subject to UK legal jurisdiction and compliant with the DPA and the GDPR.

How is my data protected?

All data is protected following industry best practice regarding access controls and encryption. Please see Details regarding Isla’s Data Protection and Data Security Policy

What data is collected and processed?

The system collects and processes patient demographic data and health information submitted by the patient.

What will the data be used for?

The data will only ever be used by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals to manage the pre-assessment process as part of your treatment. It will not be used for any other purposes, such as research or population health management, unless we contact you and specifically ask for permission to do so.