The Challenge
Communications between clinical and operational staff at West Suffolk Hospital (WSH) relied on the use of pagers, which has proved to be inefficient and suboptimal.
Health Innovation East, part of a national network funded by NHS England, engaged Health Tech Enterprise (HTE) to independently evaluate the implementation and benefits of Medic Bleep, a communication tool developed to improve service efficiency and reduce delays in sharing information between clinical and operational staff.
Our Approach
Using a Logic Model methodology, we identified potential benefits that Medic Bleep might offer, classified these benefits according to whether they might offer cash releasing, or time saving benefits. We then selected metrics to help demonstrate the benefits identified.
Quantitative and qualitative data was collected prior to the introduction of Medic Bleep and post implementation to assess impact. Data sources include time & motion studies in pharmacy and A&E, staff surveys, as well as an analysis and comparison of operational data from clinical systems (including release times of discharge medication, length of stay, bed availability, 30-day readmissions and admission times from A&E).
Outcomes and Impact
The evaluation enabled key stakeholders at the hospital to make decisions on the further roll-out of the innovative communication technology and also enabled the innovator to both optimize the functionality of the technology and their deployment procedures.
The partnership was highly commended at the HSJ Partnership Awards 2020 in the HealthTech Partnership of the Year category. The full evaluation report can be viewed here.
