Leading Liverpool children’s hospital Alder Hey has teamed up with global software giant Microsoft and UK digital firm Mindwave to create what it calls ‘a hospital without walls’. Tony McDonough reports

Liverpool children’s hospital Alder Hey has launched what it believes is a “groundbreaking” digital platform that could transform how it cares for its patients.

Inspired by the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, AlderHey@nywhere is being held up as a “hospital of the future”. It is a hybrid model that will see care delivered both in-person and virtually.

This “hospital without walls” project provides a hybrid point of access and patient care for families, children, young people and clinicians. It facilitates the management, treatment, education and delivery of their healthcare. The platform will focus on preventative healthcare and will aim to make patient care more accessible and personalised.

It was developed by Alder Hey Innovation in collaboration with global giant Microsoft and an SME called Mindwave. During the pandemic access to medical facilities became a huge challenge. New ideas were needed to address the finite capacity of hospital and community resources, including both physical space and workforce.

This was also paired with an increased demand of accident and emergency admissions, long waiting times for outpatient appointments, and increasing lengths of stay.

Alder Hey has a dedicated innovation centre within the hospital and campus. It focuses on using new technologies and innovations to solve the real-world, day-to-day problems faced by children and young people.

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Leveraging health tech, digital platforms, data and AI can transform the way healthcare is delivered to children and young people. Managing director of Alder Hey Innovation, Claire Liddy, said: “At the moment, healthcare is most often about treating people that are ill.

“What we want to do is to shift to a more preventative model of care that is individualised and tailored. One that empowers children and young people to take ownership of their healthcare and treatment.

“There are so many different technologies out there now, including wearable technology and devices such as smartwatches that enable you to monitor your health at home. What we needed was a hybrid platform to bring it all together into one place. Families, children and young people could access it, alongside their clinicians at the hospital.

“We think the AlderHey@nywhere™ platform will allow us to elevate the level and access to care for children and young people.”

Mindwave has previously worked with Alder Hey to develop other tech platforms. They include including AlderPlay and mental health platform CYP As One. It has been the lead developer on the visual interface of the portal, as well as the interconnectivity and operability of data.

Founder and chief executive, Kumar Jacob, added: “Our role has been to ensure that the portal is visually appealing and immersive. It has been about making sure the experience that young people, children and their families have is engaging, enjoyable, simple-to-use and easy-to-understand.

“At the same time, we want the complicated data and AI to flow seamlessly to ensure that the data flow of information is interoperable and sent across multiple devices, making the experience seamless, functional and easy for clinicians to use.”