Dolezal Consulting has been working with Dr Roberts Bowman and the programme team within AHSN-NENC (Academic Health Science Network) to develop the launch and engagement strategy for a new software solution it is supporting.

The AHSN work with the NHS, primary and secondary care bodies, NHS England and leading pharmaceuticals companies to implement large-scale health improvement programmes, as part of the NHS England Five Year Plan.

The AHSN is supporting the development of a suite of free-to-use digital resources by a team of North East clinicians, branded as CDRC Precision. They have been developed to work in tandem with SYSTM1 and EMIS – the two most widely used (commercial) clinical systems in primary care.

These resources can help to improve the management of people (patients) and conditions in a more proactive way. Partly audit tool, they include notifications and messages that can be easily generated and sent to patients from the clinical system the GP or healthcare professional (HCP) is using.

The resources are based on very detailed, specific database searches for key health conditions or potential conditions. They are more detailed than many of the commercial third party tools on the market and are in line with NICE and NHS guidelines. They are also hazard-tested by NECS.

AHSN is launching a new programme of interventions into high cholesterol and atrial fibrillation across the country and they want GPs and HCPs across the UK taking advantage of this toolkit. CDRC Precision will be supporting the national strategy from Autumn 2020.

What drew us to the project initially was the potential these resources could have to help early detection and possible prevention of a range of debilitating conditions, like strokes and heart attacks. We were also inspired the by team’s passion and commitment, in particular the GPs involved in resource development.

Together with Dr Roberts Bowman, Northumbria University we have developed a comprehensive marketing & communications strategy for the CDRC Precision suite of resources, which can be incorporated into the wider strategy. Market research into the competitor landscape helped the team to see where their key strengths lie.

We have supported the development of a website for the new resources, https://cdrc.nhs.uk/ which was developed and launched rapidly to deliver resources for Covid 19 management.

We supported the internal communications team with the launch campaign and roll out nationwide of the new resources at a time when the NHS was dealing with a pandemic.

This is a project with many internal and external stakeholders and we have had to have a strong collaborative style and regular communication.

Our ethos is to be respectful, open, share knowledge and experience readily. We have been able to bring advanced, technical and digital marketing skills to the client as well as the wider team.