Pando in 2020: A recap

2020 was an unprecedented year for all of us.
Let’s take a step back and have a look what happened for Pando in the last 12 months.

By Pando Admin

2020 was an unprecedented year for all of us.

Let’s take a step back and have a look what happened for Pando in the last 12 months: new features, exciting milestones, a lot of remote working and we started the year with the biggest news of them all.

January

The year started with one of the biggest changes for our users, but also for the Pando team: we changed our name from Forward to Pando! Want to know more about the meaning of Pando and why we changed our name? Click here to read more about our journey from Forward to Pando.

In addition, we released one of our most requested features to date – the Gallery! Upload or take images and organise them in your personal in-app gallery. Come back to images and attach them to a patient card or export them to your secure email. Images are never stored on your device, keeping your personal and work data separate.


February

In February 2020, one of our partner organisations experienced a major incident. Issues with IT infrastructure meant the hospital had to divert all but life threatening cases from A+E, and cancel elective surgery and outpatient activity. By liaising with a member of the trust’s command centre, Pando was able to deliver three key messages to staff over a 36 hour period during the major incident. These messages notified a major incident, gave an update on various system states and informed when the trust was out of major incident, with A&E accepting patients. Read more here.

For iOS, Pando is now available in Siri Shortcuts – make sure you never forget to turn your notifications on or off and manage your notifications better.

March

The spread COVID-19 began accelerating all over the UK and suddenly the healthcare system found itself in the middle of an extraordinary situation. Remote, secure and reliable clinical communication tools became more in demand than ever before.

In March, Pando released Forums, enabling you to search and join open forums dedicated on a specific conversation topic. In addition to sharing information with other teams, forums also enables cross-organisational communication and the accessibility of important and valuable data.

To support a healthy work-life balance and to make it easier for our users to unwind after their shift, we worked on making the unavailability toggle customisable. You are now able to select the exact timeframe where you don’t want to receive notifications and they will be turned on again automatically.

In addition, multi-image upload is now supported by Pando, saving you valuable time each occasion you upload images from your device to your pin protected in-app gallery.

April

In April, Pando was added to the NHS Apps Library, assessed as clinically safe & secure to use.

May

The Pando Web App came out of its beta testing phase and became fully available! Access your Pando account from your desktop & send messages to your teams & colleagues.

June

London’s Air Ambulance’s Physician Response Unit used Pando to manage referrals and disseminate information within its clinical team. Pando allows users to track tasks using the information-sharing platform, whilst the duty team can receive and communicate clinical information about patients wherever they are, enabling timely care and efficient decision-making. 

We are also honoured to be listed as one of the Top 100 HealthTech Pioneers 2020 in the UK, as well as being features in The Independent, talking about how Pando is helping NHS staff to communicate safely.

July

Two new features were released on Pando in July: Muting Teams and File Sharing. Mute notifications for specific teams and forums and minimise disturbance during your shift. You will still be able to read all messages that are shared in the chat while reducing the number of notifications received. File Sharing allows you to share existing files from your device into Pando or scan a physical document in a chat.

We also launched the Pando Resource Centre, filled with helpful articles and how-to guides. The support centre will help you make the most of all the features Pando has to offer. Click here for the Pando Resource Centre.

Furthermore, Pando is listed as one of the suppliers of NHSX’s Clinical Communications Procurement Framework. Contact us to learn more about Pando’s Admin Dashboard & seamless integration with Microsoft Teams and how to purchase Pando off the framework.

To support the NHS during these unprecedented times, the Pando Web App became free for all NHS staff.

August

The new Pando Tutorial walks you through all the steps of Pando. How to download Pando & get started gives a detailed walkthrough of all our features and some tips and tricks to make sure you get the most out of the app.

Pando is used within the British Army to give medical staff from the Defence Medical Services the ability to securely message senior medics and specialists in the UK. Today, Pando supports teams in over 50 countries across the globe, sending more than 120,000 messages. We are very proud to be able to support the British Army and look forward to more future endeavours in the years to come.

September

You are now able to export patient cards directly to your work email, including the task list, notes and patient information, with any images included as attachments.

“Some healthtech is failing – and that is a good sign” – a great piece by our co-founder Dr Lydia Yarlott and definitely worth a read. We are also proud to be mentioned alongside other inspiring startups as one of “17 Startups transforming Healthcare”.

In addition, Pando has been confirmed as an approved supplier to the Government’s Digital Marketplace, known as GCloud 12. For more information click here.

October

The Pando Blog is here! Interesting case studies, informative articles about data security & privacy and the latest Pando news – can now all be found here.

The Admin Dashboard gives organisations control and oversight of Pando data and all their accounts. Features include access control via email addresses and domains, user onboarding and offboarding, analytics and reports, data trail access and audit, as well s broadcast messaging

It was great to be featured in Soldier Magazine. This segment highlights how Pando is being trialled as a communication platform that allows the Army’s frontline health professionals to stay in touch with top-level support.

November

With over 4.6 million individual clinical communications since the beginning of the pandemic, we are closing in on our goal: connecting healthcare for everyone. Breaking these numbers down, Pando is recording 1.29 million weekly and 244.000 daily communications – but these numbers mean nothing to us if it is wasn’t for the individual user stories that you are sharing with the Pando team every day.

December

Treating severely unwell children has to be fast-paced. It requires treatment and decision-making at the very limit of one’s skills and expertise. EMBRACE, a mobile intensive care unit for children, operates at an incredible speed and needs a system with clear communication and reliable messaging. Read here how Pando was able to help.

In addition, we re-designed the iOS camera on Pando, to match the functionalities of the native iOS camera and make it easier for you to take images.