New app lets Fife hospital patients do pre-surgery checks on phone

NHS Fife and Buddy Healthcare teamed up for the new Elsie Pre-Op App which enables patients to communicate directly with their pre-assessment team, allowing pre-operative questionnaires to be carried out at home.

Patients scheduled for an orthopaedic procedure will receive a text message which provides them with relevant information and a link to enable them to download the app. They can also nominate someone else - a close friend or family member - to complete the questionnaire for them.

In some cases, patients will be able to carry out their pre-operative assessments via the app and may not have to attend hospital until the date of the surgery, avoiding the need for multiple visits - and for those who do need to attend in-person, appointment times will be shorter.

Anyone who doesn’t have access to a mobile phone or is less confident using such technology, can still carry out their pre-operative questionnaire over the phone or in-person.

Dr Christopher McKenna, medical director, said: “The weeks leading up to surgery can be an anxious time for patients. Our new Elsie app is designed to ease the stress for patients by reducing hospital visits and enabling better communication with clinical teams ahead of their procedure.

“And as more pre-surgical questionnaires can be carried out at home, where an individual is unable to go ahead with surgery their slot may be able to be offered to another patient at short notice, meaning fewer surgical appointments will be left unfilled.”

For more information, visit: www.nhsfife.org/elsie-preop.