New HEE-funded resource provides vital free advice for all NHS staff and learners

All NHS staff and learners now have free, round-the-clock access to the latest advice on caring for patients with multiple conditions.

Health Education England provides BMJ Best Practice as a practical, digital tool to help NHS workers meet the complex needs of patients and maximise NHS resources.

HEE’s subscription to the resource has now been extended to include the Best Practice Comorbidities Manager, which supports caring for the whole patient by including guidance on the treatment of a patient’s acute condition alongside their pre-existing ones.

In the UK alone, one in three patients admitted to hospital as an emergency has five or more conditions. Clinical guidelines only focus on single conditions, but failure to treat the whole patient can lead to worse clinical outcomes and longer hospital stays.

The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated the problem, with more than 60 per cent of patients admitted to intensive care units having comorbidities.

Patrick Mitchell, HEE’s Director of Innovation, Digital and Transformation, said: “We are very pleased to have been able to add the new Comorbidities Manager to the national provision, helping members of multidisciplinary teams, including our trainees, in their shared endeavour to treat the whole patient.

“By giving frontline staff this and other digital tools we can ensure they have the most up-to-date, evidence-based knowledge at their fingertips, driving digital transformation from board to bedside.”

Available on desktop or app, 24/7 on and offline, NHS staff and learners in England can use BMJ Best Practice for free via an NHS OpenAthens account. Find out more here:-  https://www.bmj.com/company/hee/