Caroline Bartliff is a DCHS specialist speech and language therapist working in the Derby Parkinson's team whose work using voice therapy software to improve care for patients with Parkinson’s has won praise and recognition.
By utilising the software on smartphones, tablets and computer-based devices, Caroline and her colleagues are supporting patients to access care and therapy from the comfort of their home, avoiding unnecessary trips to hospital.
Caroline, who teams up with the UHDB Parkinson’s team, explained that utilising apps and enabling patients to access their therapy exercises at home, independently, makes a huge difference to their care.
Caroline said:
"The patient feedback has been really positive and patients are doing better with their therapy. They are able to do it in their own time and they feel like they are able to achieve their goals in a way that is more comfortable for them, reducing the amount of time they have to spend coming into hospital and enabling them to independently manage their symptoms."
Caroline added:
"It is important to us that we try and make improvements where we can and we want to embrace different technology to see what is best for our service users."
The implementation of this technology, and the significant improvements it is having on waiting lists and patient experience within the Parkinson’s service, was recognised recently with a UHDB Making a Difference Award and is a fine example of how integrated working across DCHS and UHDB is putting patients at the centre of their care.
You can read more about the difference it has made to one family here.