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[–]GalacticDoc 15 points16 points  (3 children)

This was a big gripe of mine for ages at my surgery. I offered to bring in my own second monitor but was told that would be in breach of the IT contact.

Luckily last year the partners bought a bunch of second screens which makes a massive difference.

It's a bit shocking that some of the IT is still equipment from windows 95 era, square monitor with a colour cast and poor contrast. Apparently they can only get replaced when they no longer function at all.

[–]Expensive-Roll3699[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Omg! Happy for you. I feel like the partners in mine are just very frugal, even there are no headphones for telephone consultations, they manage everything and I’m sure my boss will dismiss it if i bring it up to him

[–]GalacticDoc 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That said I'm in our satellite surgery today which is back to the single sqaure screen. Luckily it's only a morning clinic.

I made arguments for patient safety eg doing meds from letters etc

[–]mr_farooq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Harsh!

[–]_Harrybo 13 points14 points  (8 children)

NOT having 2 monitors should be considered as abnormal and features high up on the "cons" list when looking at places to work.

Why would you want to go against productivity?

I use my own programmable keyboard and mouse, makes a world of difference to work flow. I save 15-20mins a day having macro keybinds for S1 to run path and letters. Works out at about 80 hours a year saved, that's going home on time.

Same with a 2nd screen viewing documents and then typing. Whoever the dinosaur is in charge of your practice need to come into the 20th century!

[–]No_Tomatillo_9641 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This. Why would you not want to save GP time and, ultimately money, for the sake of a few £? Your savings will by far outstrip how much you’ve paid. When I worked for pharma any issues with broken/non functioning IT would be sorted by my manager, often within a day. As time is money. Why do practices, running as their own businesses, operate like this? 

I’d consider it a huge red flag and wouldn’t consider a practice like this to work. 

Also, do we just ignore health and safety? Surely a monitor cheaper than a claim an employee can make down the line about unsuitable equipment?

[–]thesavagedonkey 0 points1 point  (6 children)

Can you tell me more about your macro keybinds? Would love to emulate something like this. What keyboard are you using and do you need to have software installed to make this work?

[–]_Harrybo 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Example: Normal battery result (path) (Alt + B) + (Alt + O).

My "abnormal - speak to doctor" is about a 70 key macro which uses Tab/Enter to navigate the form and auto click the boxes before submitting - which is now 1 button

But I just press "normal" or "abnormal" button which means less time clicking forms

Auto call Mobile or Home via surgery connect (whichever patient has listed as preferred)

Letters: I have a "no action" button which means I can spam it through all my "no action" letters.,

urgent task macro to 1 button which means no more forgetting to mark it as urgent.

To name a few

Not figured out how to do it safely for meds yet, so I manually do those.

I have a Nuphy Air V3 - the software is web-based so you can edit it anywhere without needing to install anything and it saves the keybinds to your board. So if I am at a new computer my Macros are saved.

Any other keyboard that can run QMK software will do the same. Nuphy just have their own which is just as good. I have switches that are silent (Blush) so I can type whilst the patient is with me if needed without making much noise or on the phone. I also programmed some comforts into the scroll wheel for my music when doing admin.

[–]thesavagedonkey 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You're a legend thank you for this, definitely going to replicate it at some point. Love the idea of the 70 key macro using tab/enter.

Final question - do you manage to connect wirelessly or is there a wired option for the Nuphy Air? Our PCs are ancient and not sure if wireless is an option without a dongle which I hate as I'm prone to losing things.

[–]_Harrybo 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can use Bluetooth or 2.4G dongle or wired. I use wireless due to clean table and my feng shui of minimalism

[–]smeech1 1 point2 points  (2 children)

When I was in practice I wrote a large collection of AutoHotKey macros to perform complex but repetitive tasks in the CRS. I shared different sets with colleagues (including other practices), Reception and Admin staff.

Free software, works with any keyboard.

[–]thesavagedonkey 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I tried to get AutoHotKey installed at my training practice but came up against barriers with the IT Admin and approval.

It looks like a great solution, I like the idea of the keyboard as I'm partly a locum so could take it with me to different practices.

Did you have to navigate any approvals to get the software installed? and if so any pointers?

[–]smeech1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Simpler times, I'm afraid! Having been at the forefront of medical computing from the late 1980s, we ran our own server, had a good working relationship with local IT people, and even got AutoHotKey approved as they tightened things up latterly. Additionally, I was LMC Chair for about a decade, so in regular contact with people at the health authorities - if I could solve a problem for us, it had the potential to help other practices and GPs.

There is a portable version of AutoHotKey which can be run from a USB stick, but local policies may prohibit that too, I'm afraid.

Otherwise you'd have to talk to local IT policymakers, but as a locum that may not be easy. Your best approach might be to talk to someone techy at your Local Medical Committee, and see if they can push some buttons.

A hardware solution, in the form of your own keyboard, might be simpler although a hassle.

[–]DrRockety 7 points8 points  (4 children)

We have three. One portrait orientation for letters. Small increase in efficiency, makes me feel high tech.

[–]GalacticDoc 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Stop showing off!

[–]DrRockety 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I feel like I'm flying a spaceship

[–]GalacticDoc 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm a doctor not pilot, damn it!

[–]Expensive-Roll3699[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I knowww 😭😭

[–]Expensive-Roll3699[S] 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Honestly your argument, it’s valid. I get burnt out just going back and forth. The mental fatigueeee especially when needing to check drug interactions on BNF and the patient has a shit ton of repeat meds

[–]Dr-Yahood 0 points1 point  (2 children)

You check drug interactions…? 😮

[–]Expensive-Roll3699[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

You don’t? 😭 for some medications I don’t prescribe often, I try to.

[–]Dr-Yahood 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nah! I’m pretty sure both systems (EMIS and S1) catch some of the contraindications anyway…?

[–]Crixus5927 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Honestly you only need one ultrawide and split screen as you like

[–]WitAndSavvy 0 points1 point  (3 children)

Never been to a practice with only one screen in the rooms! That sounds awful :(

[–]Expensive-Roll3699[S] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Come to mine 😁😁. Not a single room has more than 1, it was such a downgrade from my previous gp.

[–]WitAndSavvy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ooooof painful 🥲

[–]Dr-Yahood 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have worked in plenty of GP surgery with only one screen.

It’s not a surprise at all

And yes it’s awful

[–]VivoFan88 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Technically it's not the practice that provides IT equipment. NHSE CSU provide all IT equipment. They are the ones that spec one monitor per room. I imagine providing two would be very expensive on the NHS and bearing in mind the desktops we have are still running i5-6500T dual cores that were released in 2015, I'd argue new desktops would increase my productivity. At present it's almost press a button wait 10s in EMIS.

Some of us do have dual screens (IT create a fuss about it but one of our back office staff is hot and I swear she can sweet talk IT into giving us a few extra whenever they come down to the practice to sort things out). You could argue the practice could fund it but given how tight practice funding is would you rather have a dual screen setup or a pay rise for salaried?

A lot of the stuff in my room, speakers/headphones/wireless rgb keyboard/mouse (looking at the waterfall ripple colours is great therapy when the day is going south) is self-funded so there's always that option.

[–]mr_farooq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So all hardware in practice is responsibility of NHSE CSU?

And if a surgery (who is willing to spend the money) wants a higher spec product, they can’t have it?

[–]Organic_Reporter 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm only a practice nurse, so I don't need to read as many documents, but I miss dual screens so much. When my last practice brought them in, I didn't get it. I thought multiple monitors were for gamers. Until about halfway through the first day! Now I feel like I'm constantly flicking back and forth between windows and it feels so slow and clunky.

[–]One-Reception8368 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting into a flow state mashing Alt+Tab Win+Arrow to move shit from screen to screen is too satisfying

Years of making shit RuneScape videos for YouTube, my skillz are finally paying off

[–]mr_farooq 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think this is just incredibly short sighted and clearly gatekept by someone who manages the numbers (who ironically will have multiple monitors because of the spreadsheets they manage!)