This month in Charing Cross Hospital, West London (part of Imperial College NHS Trust) we launched a new service called myJoint. myJoint gives patients more information and greater control, improving their care experiences and allowing us as clinicians to keep track on how our patients are doing once they leave hospital.  We hope that our new online service will help us streamline the way we provide our services.
 
I took the opportunity recently to present the new system to The Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, and also the NHS Chief Executive, David Nicholson, during a visit to NHS London Headquarters. I even gave Mr Lansley his own personal login details so that he can experience the site for himself (not that I am suggesting he needs a knee replacement!).
 
The first patients who are being given their unique logins to enable them to use the site’s services are those undergoing knee replacement operations. However, I hope that the service will quickly be extended to other orthopaedic patients, such as those having hip replacements.
 
The website works by asking patients a series of questions. Each answer has a numerical weighting that provides a score which clinicians are able to use to get an idea on how their patients are doing. Each test completed provides patients with an interactive chart showing them how they compare to others within the myJoint community.
 
The surgical team looking after each patient monitor the patient scores. That way we can contact patients to arrange appointments, or simply adjust their medication if necessary. If we are happy that our patients are progressing well then we can give them the option of not having to attend unnecessary follow-up clinic appointments.

The team behind myJoint are lead by Justin Cobb, professor of orthopaedic surgery at Imperial College, and myself as a trainee surgeon. We have been working closely with NHS London to ensure that the system reaches the largest number of London patients possible. We are also pleased to announce that raw data from the site (thought obviously anonomised) will be published at regular intervals by NHS London, and the Greater London Authority through the London Datastore. This means people can get a clear picture about the success rates of different operations, and hospitals.
 
I hope that myJoint will revolutionize the way in which we interact with our patients. Future additions to the service are likely to include patients being able to message each other, track another patients journey, and also a virtual health diary.

For more information about myJoint contact Simon Hurst at simon@myjoint.co.uk <http://simon@myjoint.co.uk

Dr Simon Hurst Imperial College London