The Trust decided to digitise its bed management system in order to improve patient flow and patient care and therefore introduce more efficiencies. The interactive screens installed by Stone Group allow teams to focus work where needed, for example if a bed is required staff can see when the next bed is due and what is outstanding to make it available. They also use a traffic light coding system that allows all staff coming onto the ward, such as a physiotherapist, to quickly and clearly see which patient requires their assessment. In addition, this same information can be accessed remotely on a desktop by the same physiotherapist while on another ward or in their own department.
For many years the hospital operated two systems for patient management: a handwritten dry-wipe board and an electronic desktop programme. These systems were difficult to keep updated in real-time and required valuable time to keep aligned with one another, causing delays to patient discharge and progression throughout the hospitals. Since introducing the new bed management system, the timeliness report - calculated between the time a patient physically moves and time entered on system - immediately brought the average per week down by more than 500 per cent, taking 7-9 minutes in comparison to the previous three days. This can be attributed to the visibility of the interactive screens and the 'drag and drop to discharge' functionality.
"We are delighted with the simplicity, visibility and tidiness of the interactive displays," said Niki Porter, Operational Service Manager, Clinical Administration, BSUH. "We needed to increase visibility of patient information and ensure the same information was visible on every desktop throughout the Trust in order to increase efficiencies in each ward and make decision-making easier and quicker. It is helping our nurses focus on what is crucial - whilst the administrative role is key, our nurses have trained so hard for so long to be able to deliver the standards of care that our patients expect."
Porter continues: "Stone Group was the clear choice for us, demonstrating knowledge and understanding of our position as an NHS Trust, enabling us to make informed decisions. They have provided flexibility and outstanding customer care, completing the installation quickly and seamlessly with minimal disruption to the day to day running of the hospitals."
The installation was completed in three weeks, broken up by a week for staff training. The system is used by nurses on a daily basis as well as doctors and multi-disciplinary teams including physiotherapists, dieticians, occupational health therapists and social workers.
BSUH is an acute teaching hospital working across two campus sites in Brighton and Haywards Heath. It treats over three quarters of a million patients each year from in and around the City of Brighton and Hove, Mid Sussex and the western part of East Sussex.