Telemedicine

As the regional specialist centre for reconstructive surgery following trauma, we have developed and now have a well-established telemedicine referral system known as TRIPS. This allows photographs of injuries to be reviewed by qualified and experienced clinicians at any time of day or night, regardless of where in the region the patient is located.

In 2021 the TRIPS website received over 28,000 referrals. Images are received from over 250 fixed locations in Accident & Emergency departments, Urgent Care Centres, Walk-In Centres and Minor Injury Units to five hubs across the area covered by the London and South of England Burns Network. In addition, paramedic practitioner teams from the South East Coast Ambulance Service are able to send images and receive clinical advice from the scene of an incident. Primary care staff can also refer directly from the consulting room.

TRIPS provides a multi-centre referral system for burns, necrotising fasciitis, hand trauma, maxillo facial injuries, and lower leg trauma with five hubs across the south east of England. The five hubs located in Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, St Georges Hospital, Tooting, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Aylesbury and Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, are all able to accept referral images from any PC connected to the NHS network via the TRIPS website.

How to access this service

Clinicians needing to make a referral will need access to a computer linked to the NHS net and with the ability to upload the images from a digital camera or memory card. In order to comply with information governance rules and regulations, images should never be taken on a mobile phone or other mobile device unless it is owned by the NHS. Images can be uploaded to the secure TRIPS website at https://www.trips.nhs.uk.

Instructions on how to use the site can be found on the TRIPS website by following the ‘Help and Information’ link located at the bottom right of each page.

Once the images have been uploaded referrals can be discussed with the appropriate hub. All contact numbers are available on the TRIPS website just click the Hub Contacts hyperlink found at the bottom of each page.

For more information contact the TRIPS helpdesk by email qvh.tripshelpdesk@nhs.net