• Overview

    Steffan Gimblett, a former GP practice manager in Swansea recognised that there was a need for a better way for doctors and patients to communicate. Leaflets and paper-based information were all well and good, but often costly.

    He pioneered the use of QR codes that could direct patients to different websites in order to find the information they needed. Although very successful, something more was needed to allow the information to be in one place.

    An idea was born - a mobile phone app was the ideal solution, but Steffan needed someone to understand his vision, and develop it into an app that worked for patients and GPs alike.

    After a competitive tender process, we were selected to develop the app.

  • The Customer

    Steffan Gimblett is a digital-savvy former practice manager and the man behind Surgery app. Based in Wales, the app is for the use of GP practices in Wales, although could be used elsewhere in the UK should authorisation rules be changed. It’s a start-up business that needed support to create a game-changing service.

    The Challenge

    We were asked to create an easy-to-navigate app that benefited patients and surgeries alike. The app needed to be useable so that all ages and technical abilities could enjoy the app.
  • Easy-to-navigate app that benefited patients and surgeries alike
  • A bespoke solution designed and built that could evolve in the future

  • The Solution

    Looking at what was needed, the team worked with the client to first create a brand identity and a logo.

    We then began working on designs and planning out how a user of any age and ability could use the app and find their way around it.

    Written and built so it could be used on both Apple and Android phones, the app can be downloaded by a user who is then able to register and select their own GP practice. At the moment, it is only authorised to be used in Wales.

    The app was a bespoke solution written on a framework that could also use plugins for elements that interfaced with the phone's operating service, such as using current location or using the camera to take a video.

    In addition, we also built a web portal so that practice managers could easily update and manage their own app content for their surgeries.

  • We also built a web portal so that practice managers could easily update and manage their own app content

  • The Results

    The app has helped patients access information and helped GP practices to become more efficient and be able to concentrate more on patients than on admin tasks.

    Patients can access digital services, including online triage provided by their GP surgery, and have access to a directory of NHS health resources.

    GP surgeries can easily manage their content and update information. For a small start-up business, the app has had phenomenal success - it is used by more than half of the 400 GP practices in Wales. This is well ahead of projections and is necessitating the development of an updated version that can do a lot more.

    From our Client

    “I have a lot of experience through working as a practice manager and I identified ways in which digital services could be used to help patients and GP surgeries alike. We are responding to GP requests for additional elements of the app, and I now consider that we really are a facilitator for change in GP surgeries.

    Copper Bay Digital has delivered a fantastic service and helped us a lot to develop the app. They have worked with us as much as they can; the website is good, the app is working really well, and couldn’t be any happier with them.”
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