Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital has recently implemented a leading-edge bed management system provided by Silverlink Software. The hospital is one of the leading specialist hospitals in the country and has a reputation for delivering outstanding patient care.
The new system allows beds to be managed using intuitive touch screens which have replaced numerous whiteboards spread around the hospital. It enables staff to create a graphical representation of their ward and then allocate and move patients between beds using a ‘drag and drop’ system. The system also manages pending arrivals, booked beds and cleaning status.
All this new functionality is fully integrated with the core Silverlink PCS Patient Administration System (PAS) which means that all relevant individuals in the hospital have real-time information regarding bed availability. This has greatly reduced the amount of time nursing staff have to spend updating administrative records and frees them up to focus on delivering an exceptional patient experience.
This provision of real-time bed management information throughout the hospital has enabled improved occupancy rates and reduced the amount of time patients have to wait to be admitted to a ward. The system also helps deliver better results. For example, it provides a colour-coded warning if it detects an imminent breach of an estimated discharge date. The system also assists in assuring that beds are allocated to those patients with the greatest need.
Despite only being recently installed, the system helped the Trust receive impressive comments during a recent unplanned review by an external assessor.
Innovations such as this are the reason LHCH has been rated third in Cheshire and Merseyside for digital maturity, and was also the first specialist trust in the country to be rated “Outstanding” by the Care Quality Commission in 2016. Furthermore, LHCH was also rated top in the country for ‘overall patient experience’ in the Care Quality Commission’s National Inpatient Survey 2018, which is the ninth time LHCH has earned this distinction in the last 12 years.
The system was developed using the latest graphical technologies. It is part of a strategy by Silverlink to invest substantially in its PAS to provide market-leading functionality to support specific clinical areas while still delivering the best administrative system currently available in the UK. The successful implementation of bed management follows on from the recent introduction of a new A&E module which enables browser-based access in the ward. The next major investment will allow patients to book out-patient appointments using an app on their smartphone.
Carol Moss (Systems Manager) at LHCH said: "The new bed management system from Silverlink has enabled us to improve patient care by releasing Nursing staffs time to spend with their patients rather than on administrative tasks. The introduction of touch screens to access the bed management system has greatly reduced the time it takes to transfer and discharge patients. Normally when we put in new technology, it takes some time to become accepted, however, this system has helped us deliver better results pretty much from day one."
Claire Harvey, Ward Manager, added: “We love the system. Initially we didn’t think any electronic system could replace our old whiteboard, but since the deployment of the system we have stopped using our whiteboard. The bed management system is saving us time, clearly shows patients location and using the icons helps to support patient care.”
Tim Quainton, MD of Silverlink Software said ‘our primary purpose is to help NHS Trusts deliver better care for less cost. We are delighted with the way this initiative has helped Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. We are looking forward to implementing it across the UK. We also have some equally exciting developments in the pipeline."
