Innovation and results: Graphnet’s CEO, Ian Denley, reflects on 2023.

As we bid farewell to 2023, I’d like to reflect on a year of progress and innovation. The past year has seen many of our customers reaching a level of digital maturity that we haven’t seen before. Their hard work is coming to fruition, with the strategies and tools that they have put in place yielding results and having a measurable impact on the populations under their care.  

I’m inspired every day by how health and care providers are using our population health technology, shared care records and remote monitoring solutions to tackle some of the country’s biggest societal challenges, such as fuel poverty, smoking and healthcare inequalities. They have reduced the number of hospital admissions, cut waiting lists, brought down costs, and delivered targeted care for long-term conditions. Most importantly, they have made great strides towards improving the lives of their patients.

Here are some of our key highlights from 2023:

• Reduction in admissions. The Frimley Health and Care Integrated Care System used population health management technology to identify patients suitable for remote monitoring. As a result, 4,000 complex need primary care patients and 800 care home residents are being looked after in the comfort of their own homes. Over the past year, this has led to a 40% reduction in hospital admissions for high need patients and 34% for care home residents. 
• Supporting elective recovery. Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust piloted a population health dashboard that combines its surgical waiting lists with the Buckinghamshire Shared Care Record. The time savings have been extremely valuable. For example, previously, all pre-operative patients would have filled a 45-minute clinic appointment. Now, manual triaging by a senior nurse has been removed, and 20 out of every 100 patients will avoid a pre-operative assessment completely. There is more information about this on the HTN, Digital Health and Our Health Needs news platforms.
• Easing fuel poverty. The Cheshire & Merseyside Integrated Health and Care Partnership identified 1,317 people who are at risk of developing serious health issues due to fuel poverty. Data has allowed them to stratify their fuel-poor population using risk of admission, mortality risk and other factors such as living alone, allowing support to be delivered where it’s needed most. Read more in Digital Health and HSJ.
• Tackling hypertension. Frimley launched a population health led hypertension project using patient lists, data analytics and remote monitoring. As a result, GPs in Slough reported a 30% increase in patients with controlled blood pressure. See this piece in Computer Weekly for more detail.
• The Northamptonshire Care Record (NCR) went live, joining up care records for more than 800,000 people in the county. The first phase of the implementation has been completed, with the system, which uses Graphnet’s CareCentric software, being available to all GP practices, and now being rolled out for Northampton and Kettering General Hospitals and Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
• Improving outcomes for pregnant women. The Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Health and Care Partnership used an innovative population health data dashboard to improve healthcare outcomes and health equity for pregnant women. Covid-19 vaccination rates amongst pregnant women have increased by more than 25%. The tool is now being used to increase flu vaccinations, reduce smoking during pregnancy, increase cervical screening, and identify and support those with mental health challenges. Read the case study here.
• Smoking cessation. Surrey Heartlands Health and Care Partnership used Graphnet’s population health solutions to look at the smoking status of patients across East Surrey. They noticed that smoking had a much higher prevalence in one particular area with a high level of deprivation, and were able to organise targeted interventions and programmes, such as pop-up sessions at a local community centres. Over the past year, they have seen smoking prevalence decline by 11%. 
• Increase in Greater Manchester Care Record usage. Patients accessed through the GMCR grew by 42% in 12 months. Read more about the impact of the GMCR in Health Innovation Manchester’s latest Impact Report 2022-2023.
• National recognition. The Health Editor of The Times wrote a long-form article about the positive impact of population health technology and remote monitoring. Morning Live (BBC One) visited Mersey Care to report on the virtual wards powered by our Docobo technology. Numerous other stories were shared across platforms like HSJ, HTN, Digital Health, Computer Weekly, UKAuthority, the Diabetes Wellness and Research Foundation, Diabetes Times, the Clinical Services Journal, Healthcare Leader, Care Home Management, Farnham Herald, Express & Star, and the NHS Providers website.
• Awards. Frimley and Graphnet's PHM projects received projects received three accolades in the 2023 HSJ Digital Awards. Connected Care and its ‘Supporting Residents with Virtual Care Using Data Driven Digital Transformation’ project has been shortlisted for the ‘Virtual Care Project of the Year’ at the 2024 HSJ Partnership Awards. 

Looking forward to 2024.

Our purpose is to make a lasting difference to the quality of care and healthcare outcomes by supporting the delivery of integrated NHS and local authority care services. That will continue to be our driving force as Graphnet embarks on 2024.

We are looking forward to supporting our customers as they translate the valuable insights gained from our population health and shared care record solutions into tangible actions, and care for people in the comfort of their own homes using our remote monitoring and virtual ward technology.

We will also be taking some time to celebrate the fact that Graphnet is now in its 30th year – and proudly still 100% British owned and run.

I would like to thank all of our customers, partners, and employees for their commitment and support throughout 2023. I wish you all the very best for 2024 and look forward to seeing what we can achieve together over the coming months.