Improving Waiting Times
June 28, 2022
Matt Jaggard, Founder of DocComs
While working as a trainee surgeon, founder Matt Jaggard became frustrated with the lack of secure, mobile, fit-for-purpose communication tools among healthcare staff. The bleep system for contacting staff was on its way out and there was no credible replacement for getting in touch with colleagues quickly apart from social media.
“Doccoms was born out of one concept – that the working environment within the healthcare sector was in dire need of digital products to improve patient care through secure communication”
“Patient care depends on medical teams being able to communicate quickly without barriers, while securing the patient data.”
It had become obvious to him that there was no real drive to promote security in terms of mobile data in the NHS. Staff were putting patient data at risk by using social media, such as WhatsApp, but the medical need always overrode the security considerations.
As a result, he created DocComs.
“I wanted to be able to empower doctors by giving them the communication tools that they’re crying out for and the data security they need,” he says.
“It’s when communication breaks down that things can go wrong. DocComs removes the scenario where you can’t contact a colleague who’s going to help you with a decision. As a result, we can improve the patient outcome.”
In his opinion many healthcare technology solutions are not designed for the clinician as the end user. “A successful tool is one the clinician picks up and is instantly familiar with. It’s also one he/she knows will protect patient data so images, case notes and confidential information can be shared without worrying about potential security risks. I couldn’t see a platform that protected this data whilst on the go, so I created one.”
Working in his limited spare time, around his daytime job as a trauma surgeon in the NHS. Matt built a team to create DocComs – Doctor Communications. The name was derived from the frustrations of not being able to reach a doctor quickly and easily. DocComs solves that problem and keeps users informed about treatment decisions, urgent requirements, and routine patient discussions.
DocComs now has a team of 10 and the app is used by more than 500 hospital staff and medical professionals. It is free to access for anyone with an NHS email login and is available on the App Store for iOS or Google Play for Android.
