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Information for Patients about Chain SMS

COVID-19: To protect you and your household we are having to limit our face to face contact. Our priority has and will always be to provide outstanding care to people with life-limiting illnesses. Video consultation allows us to be able to still see you even if we can’t visit.

Chain SMS

Chain SMS is a system that allows us to easily send you text messages, written information and to speak with you via video. It is a secure system that is widely used within the NHS.

What to expect

You are receiving this information as we believe that this service may be of benefit to you. If you have a video consultation booked, a text message will be sent out when our team is ready to start the consultation. If we’ve not met you previously, we will need to ask a few questions to confirm your identity at the start of the call. We will discuss and address any problems that you are having as a result of your illness. Please note that we are not able to give advice about COVID-19. Calls are typically around 30 minutes long but please allow up to 1 hour. The videos are not recorded but we will keep our own written records as we do now. We will continue to work in partnership with any other healthcare providers involved in your care e.g. your GP, district nurses or hospital consultants.

 

Before your first appointment

Please ensure that you have either Chrome or Firefox installed on your phone and selected as the default browser
Please give permission to your web browser to access the microphone and camera

Please try to be close to your WiFi router or in a room where you get good 4G signal as this will help with the quality of the video

Please make sure you are in a suitable location prior to starting the consultation as the audio will be on speaker. Consider using headphones if you are worried about being overheard

 

I have an appointment booked but I have not received a text message

We will endevour to let you know in advance if a member of our team has been delayed. If more than 15 minutes have past since your appointment time and you have not had any contact from us then please call our Connect with The Kirkwood team on 01484 557 910.

 

I have clicked on the link and I’m being asked to download Whereby app

Whereby is the application that the video consultation uses. Depending on the the type of phone you have, you may be asked to download the app when you click on the consultation link for the first time (this typically happens on iPhones). Unless you are also offered the option to continue in a web browser then please download the app to enable to video consultation to proceed.

 

At the end of the consultation

Don’t forget to click on the leave button (red hand) to end the call.

 

If you have any questions or concerns about using this service, please contact The Kirkwood on: 01484 557 910. You can find a downloadable PDF version of this information in the downloads section at the foot of this page.

Our priority will always be to provide outstanding care to people with life limiting illnesses. Video consultations allow us to be able to still see you even if we can't visit. You may be offered a video consultation as part of our assessment process.

 

Chain SMS

Chain SMS is a system that allows us to easily send you text messages, written information and to speak with you via video. It is a secure system that is widely used within the NHS.

Need clinical advice?
Call our advice line on:

01484 557910

24 hrs a day