A new clinical tool developed in Scotland has given frontline staff in Glasgow confidence to confront coronavirus. 

The app has been rapildy developed within a month where it records patient information in free text.

The mobile and desktop app allows frontline health workers to access patients in a standardised form - prompting clinicians to record specific symptoms, patient details and clinical decisions.

The tool has been piloted at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde at the Linwood Community Assessment Centre where nurses, advanced nurse practitioners and GPs have used it to help treat suspected COVID-19 patients.

Glasgow Times:

READ MORE: Superdrug launch Covid-19 antibody tests - how much do they cost?

Not only does it help clinicians identify suspected COVID-19, it also ensure signs of other illnesses or diseases are picked up too.

Stuart Sutton, Clinical Director of Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership, said: “This tool has given our staff greater confidence when dealing with this new disease through a structured approach when assessing people attending our assessment centres.

"Using the app ensures key symptoms and signs of COVID-19 are identified and highlighted to clinicians.”

The information collected is saved onto a patient’s medical file and is also shared with national partners to allow for further analysis to improve our understanding of the virus in the long-term. 

The next stage of the pilot will see the app expanded for use in all of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde’s Community Assessment Centres and the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital’s Emergency Department.

It was designed using World Health Organization COVID-19 guidelines with input from Scottish clinicians.