Scottish designed NHS digital twin cuts wait time by 50%

Departments from oncology to maternity and trauma are benefitting from simulation-powered decision making as health system continues to grapple with huge backlog.

Developed by Glasgow-based software specialist Simul8, a digital twin is being used by NHS Boards and Trusts for various forms of optimisation. This includes patient scheduling and flow, and resources in high pressure departments. 

Running alongside live systems, digital twins allow users to run countless simulations in closed environments, revealing impacts of different decisions before go-live. This creates a protected testbed for new processes, policies and approaches, allowing for hundreds of trials to be conducted concurrently, without fear of real world fallout. 

Simul8’s technology has already proven successful. In one example, overseen by change management specialists Changeology, the system was used to trial new patient scheduling for a cancer care unit. Following implementation, costs fell by £15,000 per month and wait times plummeted by 50%.

Other results have also been impressive, including the optimisation of processes for IVF treatment and cardiovascular surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London. Due to the success, Simul8 has been commended with a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Silver Award for Best Healthcare Analytics Project for the NHS. 

Following the General Election win last week, the new Labour government considers improving the NHS to be a priority. In March 2024, figures showed 7.5million people were on waiting lists, down from an all-time high of 7.8million the previous September. However, almost half of those queueing for treatment have been on lists for more than 18 weeks. 

‘Our healthcare system is under extreme pressure and millions of people are waiting for potentially lifesaving treatments. Sadly, there’s no silver bullet to solving the backlog issue but we should be using every available option to improve the situation,’ said Laura Reid, Simul8 CEO. 

Technology has a critical role to play in the future of healthcare in the UK. Our software is already making a difference and we’re extremely proud of that, but we want to do more. Simulation-powered digital twins remove bottlenecks and improve efficiency, which is exactly what the system needs,’ she continued. ‘The beauty of what we offer is that it removes risk. Making changes to the simulation does not affect real life or have financial implications.’