Welcome to the Right Decision Service (RDS) newsletter for April 2024.
Tactuum has been working hard to address the issues experienced during the last week. They have identified a series of three mitigation measures and put the first of these in place on Friday 3rd May. If this does not resolve the problems, the second mitigation will be actioned, and then the third if necessary.
Please keep a lookout for any slowing down of the system or getting locked out. Please email myself, mbuchner@tactuum.com and onivarova@tactuum.com if you experience any problems, and also please raise an urgent support ticket via the Support Portal.
Thank you for your patience and understanding while we achieve a full resolution.
A rotating carousel presenting some of the key RDS tools and capabilities, and an editable slideset, are now available in the Resources for RDS providers section of the Learning and Support toolkit.
The redesign of RDS Search and Browse is still on-track for delivery by mid-June 2024. We then plan to have a 3-week user acceptance testing phase before release to live. All editors and toolkit owners on this mailing list will be invited to participate in the UAT.
The archiving and version control functionality is also progressing well and we will advise on timescales for user acceptance testing shortly.
Tactuum is also progressing with the deep linking to individual toolkits within the mobile RDS app. There are several unknowns around the time and effort required for this work, which will only become clear as the work progresses. So we need to be careful to protect budget for this purpose.
These have all been compiled and effort estimated. Once the redesign work is complete, these will be prioritised in line with the remaining budget. We expect this to take place around late June.
Many thanks to those of you completed the value and impact survey we distributed in February. Here are some key findings from the 65 responses we received.
Figure 1: Impact of RDS on direct delivery of care
Key figures
Figure 2 shows RDS impact to date on delivery of health and care services
Key figures
These data show how RDS is already contributing to NHS reform priorities and supporting delivery of more sustainable care.
Saving time and money
Quality assurance and governance
Service innovation and workforce development
A few examples of toolkits published to live in the last month:
Some of the toolkits the RDS team is currently working on:
Please contact his.decisionsupport@nhs.scot if you would like to learn more about a toolkit. The RDS team will put you in touch with the relevant toolkit lead.
Thanks to all of you who have responded to the retrospective quality audit survey and to the follow up questions. We still have some following up to do, and to work with owners of a further 23 toolkits to complete responses. An interim report is being presented to the HIS Quality and Performance Committee.
Eight clinical services and two public library services are undertaking tests of change to implement the Being a partner in my care app. This app aims to support patients and the public to become active participants in Realistic Medicine. It has a strong focus on personalised, person-centred care and a library of shared decision aids, as well as simple explanations and videoclips to help the public to understand the aims of Realistic Medicine. The tests of change will inform guidance and an implementation model around wider adoption and spread of the app.
With kind regards
Right Decision Service team
Healthcare Improvement Scotland
Gabapentin is prescribed to treat certain types of long-lasting pain caused by damage to nerves. This type of pain, called neuropathic pain, can be caused by a number of different diseases. These include diabetes and shingles.
Find out more
https://patient.info/medicine/gabapentin-neurontin
You can use the following tools to help discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional how likely this medicine is to help you.
Numbers and words
More than one randomised controlled trial has shown that gabapentin can achieve at least a 30% reduction in pain in some patients with pain caused by nerve damage.
One trial showed that 1 in 7 people with pain resulting from shingles, diabetes or other forms of nerve damage gained a reduction of 30% or more in their pain from using gabapentin
It is not possible to tell what will happen to you as an individual.
Notes:
Need to enter duration of treatment and effect.
The doses of gabapentin in this study were at least 1200 mg per day.
You can read more about this research at:
SIGN Guideline: https://www.sign.ac.uk/media/2097/sign136_2019.pdf
Moore RA, Wiffen PJ, Derry S, McQuay HJ. Gabapentin for chronicneuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 3.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007938.pub2/abstract
It is not possible to tell what will happen to you as an individual.
You can read more about this research at:
SIGN Guideline: https://www.sign.ac.uk/media/1108/sign136_2019.pdf
Moore RA, Wiffen PJ, Derry S, McQuay HJ. Gabapentin for chronicneuropathic pain and fibromyalgia in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2011, Issue 3.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD007938.pub2/abstract
You can discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional the possible side effects and other risks this medicine might have.
These common side effects may happen in more than 1 in 100 people. They are usually mild and go away by themselves. Keep taking the medicine but tell your pharmacist or other health professional if they bother you or don't go away:
Discuss with your pharmacist or other health professional whether there is a risk of this medicine interacting with any other medicines you are taking.
Find out more
You can discuss any other issues with your pharmacist or other health professional.
Find out more:
Manage meds - for patients and carers