Revolutionising how technology is used in hospitals

A new unit set to transform the use of technology including artificial intelligence in healthcare and improve patient outcomes is being opened at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Wednesday, 17th October 2018 Posted 6 years ago in by Phil Alsop

The state-of-the-art unit, called DRIVE – Digital, Research, Informatics and Virtual Environments – is the first of its kind in the world. It is both a physical and conceptual unit and is the result of a unique partnership between GOSH, UCL and leading industry experts in technology, artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

The idea behind DRIVE is to create a unique informatics hub to harness the power of the latest technologies to revolutionise clinical practice and enhance the patient experience, not only for GOSH patients but across the wider NHS.

The DRIVE team are working with Arm, Barclays, Microsoft, NHS Digital, NTT DATA, Samsung and UCL to ensure the latest in technology and digital developments will be developed, appraised and implemented into a clinical setting at pace.

Projects which have already come through DRIVE and are being used within the hospital to help with patient outcomes and experience include Project Fizzyo, which is helping researchers look at how physical activity and airway clearance relates to changes in the health of children with cystic fibrosis using chipped sensors inside airway clearance devices.

Through DRIVE, the whole of GOSH has been recreated in a Minecraft world where patients are able to virtually explore before they visit the hospital and virtually meet and befriend other patients who are at the hospital to help improve their patient experience.

Dr Shankar Sridharan, Clinical Director of DRIVE, said: “The aim is to use technology and data to provide – safer, better (data driven) and kinder care that is clinician focussed and patient centred. DRIVE is the how and provides the capability to develop scalable solutions to improve healthcare. GOSH patients are digital natives which means they and their families are early adopters of technologies. They will naturally embrace the new devices and apps the unit develops. These young people are our future in so many ways - and of course the future patients of the NHS for the next 50 years.”

DRIVE has also had support from Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity.

Tim Johnson, Chief Executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, said: “We are delighted to be supporting the hospital to pioneer the use of digital technology that will help children at GOSH and more broadly. We believe this will be one of the most transformative projects we’ve ever funded; one that will change the lives of patients, families and clinicians, and help herald in a new era of medical research and tailored care.”

Sarah Wilkinson, NHS Digital Chief Executive, said: “We are incredibly excited about the potential for this new partnership with the DRIVE team at GOSH. Bringing clinicians, academics, world-leading technology companies and our own technicians together into a single physical environment will allow collaboration and innovation at pace.

“The NHS needs a dramatic acceleration in digitisation in order to be able to deliver to its full potential. There is much opportunity in leveraging proven commodity technologies, with little customisation, to address key digitisation challenges and I am certain that when we bring those who understand the need together with those who have already designed and delivered applicable technologies, we will be able to create new fast lanes in our digital programs”.