Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) Solutions for COVID-19: Use Cases from Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT)

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted new and existing challenges for the delivery of healthcare staff training, medical students learning programmes, and meeting both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patient requirements. Healthcare systems globally have and continue to experience these challenges, including a severe backlog of clinical activity. Torbay hospital (NHS-UK) has previously existing knowledge in the technology sphere that has been applied to identify and resolve pandemic priorities and needs. Access to Technology-Enhanced Learning (TEL) tools and services has enabled Torbay in expanding and scaling up technologies to deliver solutions. Using the ‘double-diamond’ design thinking methodology process, multi-expert teams (clinicians, educators and TEL developers) worked together to address some of the pandemic challenges. As a result of the rapid innovation that Torbay has undertaken, several use cases have emerged which may be applicable to healthcare workers, medical students and patients, nationally and internationally. In this chapter, we describe factors that enabled innovation, our thoughts on sustainability of the interventions post-pandemic and limitations of the tools. The primary aim of our chapter is to encourage healthcare providers to establish discourse on the role of TEL innovation for meeting COVID-19 priorities and to help inform further opportunities for innovation in the NHS. Our intention is to encourage other healthcare providers to explore design thinking and generate their individual TEL use cases.