St Helens manages beds with IMS Maxims

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has implemented an admissions, discharge and transfer bed management system from IMS Maxims.

The real time, web-based system, which integrates with the trust’s IMS Maxmims patient administration system, shows basic details for the patients occupying its beds and further information when a specific bed is ‘clicked.’

The system is live in St Helens Hospital and the newly opened Whiston Hospital and the trust says it has already reduced the number of telephone calls between clerical staff and nurses and the need for a regular head count of patients.

Neil Darvill, director of informatics at the trust, said: “We previously had a retrospective, clerical based system that was labour intensive and time consuming.

“The new system shifts control towards the nurses on each ward and works in real time, so it eliminates the delays and frees up time.

"At any given moment, we know about everyone who has come in and exactly where they are.

“We are now able to plan discharges better and get people home a little sooner. We know which beds are coming free and when, which allows us to get other patients into them more quickly.”

IMS Maxims held a number of workshops with staff so that they could tailor the software to their specific needs.

However, Darvill said: "The system is intuitive and easy to use, with each transaction taking about 15 seconds. Training only took an hour for each member of staff."

Information can be displayed in different views, including a ward view, which shows whether a bed is occupied, and a patient’s planned discharge time.

There is also a large white board view and a bed management view, which details total hospital capacity, patients due for discharge and elective booking lists.

Shane Tickell, chief executive of IMS Maxmims, said: “The trust identified the need for a new bed management system that would save time, improve planning, and which would also pave the way for future enhancements in patient care.

"We were able to provide a sophisticated but simple-to-use solution that is now benefiting both staff and patients.”

Link: IMS Maxims