“I realised very quickly that Post Op works”, says Advanced Nurse Practitioner Melanie Moore.

Melanie Moore, or Mel as everyone knows her, is upbeat talking about how she uses Post Op. She says in the two years since its introduction, the digital platform has become a lifeline for surgical patients in their recovery phase.

Based in Kettering General Hospital’s Geddington Ward, her department treats patients in multiple surgical specialities, including orthopaedics, colorectal, ENT and breast. “It became apparent within a very short period that this was going to work. Patients were loving the fact they could upload photographs and I could just have a look and say that [surgical wound] looks absolutely fine.”

She says patients don’t always know what to expect after surgery, from how a wound heals to potential infections.

POST OP DEVELOPMENT

Surgical wound infection prevention was one of the main areas of focus at Post Op’s inception in 2020. Since then, it has been developed into an end to end surgical pathway with NHS integration, providing clinical analytics, direct reporting to UKHSA for infections, and complete clinical pathways for clinicians. This includes ERAS (Enhanced Recovery After Surgery) protocols, and PROMs and PREMs collection. The platform has been designed for ease of use by clinicians and patients.

In practice, it’s use in hospitals is driven by clinicians, often nurses. Ms Moore says Post Op has been instrumental in freeing up clinic time because there’s no need to give appointments to patients who are recovering well at home and they are “choosing to use different elements of Post Op. Some love the physio videos, others enjoy access to direct messaging for support. Most patients want to continue using Post Op after they’ve recovered because of the support it gives them.”

CYBERSECURITY

It naturally raises questions about the security of the platform and on-going patient engagement. The company has officially been certified as UKAS ISO 27001 and 9001 compliant – internationally recognised and sought after standards in information security, privacy and data management. This certification for Post Op follows other regulations acquired including DTAC, DSPT and MHRA Class 1.

Mel is aware that patients are concerned about their data privacy and stresses it has encouraged confidence in patients in some surgical specialties. “The security within Post Op has been a lifeline for colorectal and breast surgery patients. They’re confident knowing their images are secure between them and their surgical team.”

PATIENT ADOPTION OF THE APP

As an advanced nurse practitioner, Mel Moore is responsible for offering the Post Op app to patients and helping them understand how to use it. She’s encouraged by the fact that most patients, of all ages, have smart phones that can do the basics like uploading pictures and relaying information via the app. “Most of the time the patients just embrace it, they have a link (by invitation), and they prefer contacting us via the app rather than through the hospital switchboard.”

The eagerness of patients to upload images of their wounds or seek simple reassurance of the clinicians has helped the team at Kettering General Hospital to catch post-surgical infections quickly, as well as prevent them.

Mel says clinicians are able to act quickly in prescribing antibiotics or bringing patients in early if a wound looks like it needs attention. This also means the patient isn’t taking up a GP slot, going to an emergency department or suffering in silence until the next outpatient appointment.

PATIENT RECOGNITION

Having been a nurse for over 20 years, Mel is well-versed in how patients feel supported. She understands that fellow nurses work in different ways and demand across departments and hospitals will vary. However, she is also an advocate for proactive patient engagement. As an experienced nurse practitioner, she regularly receives emails from patients full of praise for how she’s helped support their recovery and she’s twice been nominated for the Daisy Award – an international award where patients nominate nurses and midwives who’ve given exceptional care.

Mel also mentions that patient emails have glowing reviews of the Post Op app…

"I just wanted to say how much I appreciated the Post Op app. When you explained to me about the app it made me feel so much better knowing I could just message you if I had a problem or question. You really are an absolute credit to the NHS, every hospital should have a Mel."

Post Op completely agrees and looks forward to meeting more enthusiastic and proactive clinicians like Melanie Moore.