Healthcare Digital December 2021 | Page 98

“ I WOULDN ’ T SAY THERE WAS SOME FANTASTIC DESIGN BEHIND MY CAREER , IT HAS PROBABLY BEEN JUST A FORTUITOUS OPPORTUNITY ”
SUSSEX COMMUNITY NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

Community

healthcare and technology digital transformation

“ I WOULDN ’ T SAY THERE WAS SOME FANTASTIC DESIGN BEHIND MY CAREER , IT HAS PROBABLY BEEN JUST A FORTUITOUS OPPORTUNITY ”

DIARMAID CREAN CHIEF DIGITAL AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER , SUSSEX COMMUNITY NHS FOUNDATION
Crean says he learned a great deal ‘ on the job ’ because in his role he was fortunately allowed to accompany nurses on their community rounds to get a feel for the frontline work , adding that Sussex community nursing is always managing particularly high demand because the county has an ageing population .
“ We have about 800 nurses across the county who do up to 9,000 visits a day . These nurses may visit as many as 20 different people in one day . We go into homes to see people who may have just come out of an acute hospital or our community hospitals and help them to live independent lives , so there is a large complex support function running day in day out across Sussex ,” he says .
Sussex has 13 community hospitals where people coming out of acute hospitals are looked after and helped with their physical rehabilitation , be that something like speech and language therapy after a stroke .
98 December 2021