Emergency staff at London’s Charing Cross Hospital are using a new interactive whiteboard from SMART Technologies, which has centralised all patient records and created daily time savings of up to 20 minutes per patient.
As a specialist hospital, acting as a ‘trauma centre’ for the Hammersmith and Fulham area, it wanted a solution that would provide fully updated information on the status of A&E patients in real-time.
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The department had previously encountered a number of problems when recording patient data, due to some nurses using Ascribe’s Symphony software, and others continuing to write information on standard whiteboards.
An investigation by the trust found administrative problems in A&E due to the different working patterns.
Henry Dowlen, an A&E doctor at the hospital, told E-Health Insider: “The problem wasn’t clinical, but administrative. Nurses were inputting and displaying patient information in two separate places – on a ‘pen and ink’ manual whiteboard that was regularly updated throughout the course of a shift, and digitally via a central PC. We wanted all staff to use the electronic system and provide a structured display of the location and status of current patients.”
The department decided that the easiest way to achieve this was to use an interactive whiteboard, as all staff have already been trained on Symphony, and projecting that information would provide one single resource for medical staff to monitor the emergency ward.
A one month trial began late last year, and after initial success, was extended to a second month. The hospital was given a large screen SMART BoardT interactive whiteboard, which showed all information from the Symphony system – which patients were where, and who was attending to them. An electronic notepad was also placed on the side so that nurses could place notes on the board as they used to with marker pens.
Dowlen said: “The pilot was a huge success. When the pilot finished, the nurses were up in arms at the thought of returning to a manual whiteboard – even those who were less accepting to start off with.”
As the system is interactive, staff found that it made their jobs easier as they were able to quickly update details, and see the interactive board change immediately, when patients were discharged or changed status.
Dowlen told EHI: “Some of the factors that impressed the Charge nurses included more legible and movable information; creating more time to spend on clinical instead of administrative duties; and that the board has been particularly useful for the regular handover meetings held within the A&E department.
“Centralising all records created a time saving of up to 20 minutes per patient in busy shifts. Not only were patients happier with a faster treatment time, but staff were also able to provide a higher quality, more precise level of patient care due easier sharing of information.”
Using Sympodium interactive pens, all multi-disciplinary discussions can be accurately captured and saved, ensuring that patient records are always up-to-date.
A SMART Technologies spokesperson, told EHI: “The time critical nature of healthcare means continuity of information is critical to patient safety. SMART Board interactive whiteboards help staff to communicate all necessary information and responsibilities and deliver improved patient care.
“In busy A&E wards patient information can be centralised and made accessible to all staff, enabling simultaneous information from different sources to be viewed side-by-side. As it works seamlessly with the electronic patient record systems, staff are able to focus more of their time on clinical duties, rather than administrative tasks.”
SMART Technologies sells it whiteboards in the UK through Steljes, and say discussions with other trusts are under way to deploy the same technology.
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