Between 26 June and 9 July we began to experiment around the basic order form created in sprint 1 and remove a few of the hurdles for the project as a whole identified during the previous sprint.
Order form
Having gathered initial feedback from friends and family we developed several paper prototypes and wireframes to help us explore certain elements of the form.
For example, in order to send the right test kit we need to know the gender of both the user and their sexual partners but we were concerned that very direct questions may be a barrier to usage. To test this we showed people in Camberwell clinic waiting room three different approaches, discussed their preferences and assessed their reactions.
We also used simple webpage mock-ups as conversation prompts to explore how people felt about the security of their data, their understanding of the overall process and their preferences for receiving test results and other messages.
Hosting and Information Governance
To operate with the backing of the two partner NHS trusts it is important that we work closely with their Information Governance (IG) teams. We met with their leads to establish the requirements and began to draft an IG paper to present to the IG Committee. We also began to prepare for our self assessment on the Information Governance toolkit.
Another requirement of the trusts is that we operate within N3 - the national network for the NHS. Whilst there are no plans to connect directly with other NHS services in our alpha phase, it's crucial we find a hosting partner with the correct NHS/healthcare accreditations and credentials that we felt could support us with our innovative approach. After many conversations with potential providers it became apparent that our particular requirements would be too challenging for most - we have a shortlist of one!
Access to users
In order to work directly with visitors to the clinics, we set about the lengthy process of gaining honorary contracts with the two different NHS trusts but in the meantime, having developed good relationships with the teams at both Camberwell and Burrell Street clinics, we were able to talk to many potential SH24 early adopters in both clinics with the support and supervision of the staff.
The tests
We have been gathering various testing kits from different labs who could potentially provide the testing services for SH24 and aside from some decisions around the type of blood test to use ("tiny vials" or "dry spot"), we had a good sense of how we would like to package them together.
The blood test
In order to effectively complete the tests and deliver results to our users, we knew that close integration with lab systems was a must and so we began to explore the HL7 healthcare communication standards.
During the next sprint we aim to have sent out test kits to friends and family for feedback on that part of the process.