The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust is targeting a place the on NHS Global Digital Exemplars list through its digital transformation projects.
The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), one of the leading NHS Trusts in the UK, was able to use innovative mobile technology to empower its Community team to provide patient-centric care within their own home whilst helping to minimise their carbon footprint.
Working in partnership with Bantham Technologies, the Trust introduced an integrated Patient Information Database (PID) lookup through the application of in-the-field operational forms. This innovative data capture solution seamlessly integrated with its existing patient record system and automatically pre-populated patient information into live e-Form documents. A move which enables district nurses to spend less time on administrative duties and creating more time to care for patients.
In a continued effort to secure its place on the NHS Global Digital Exemplars list – a programme to enable “digitally advanced” NHS Trusts to share knowledge with other NHS Trusts on technology-related issues, the project was deployed across Windows and iOS tablets and will be able to support digital data capture on any Windows device, including tablets, laptops, and desktop PCs for broader use throughout the Trust’s mobile and in-hospital teams.
The success of this project comes at a time when digital transformation within the NHS is a major priority. Earlier this year, UK health secretary Matt Hancock said it will be “critical” for the NHS to work with the private sector to continue an uptake in the use of technology after the COVID-19 outbreak has subsided.
“Working in partnership with Bantham and our team, we hope to maintain our status on the digital maturity index and deliver a greener NHS,” said Simon Parton, Head of ICT Systems & Applications Services & Divisional Lead for Sustainability, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.
“This project, and others like it, are all about creating more time to care”, said Edward Belgeonne, founder, Bantham Technologies. “We’ve reached a stage where technology is recognised as far more than an assistant to medical procedures. It’s something that is integral to the day to day Trust processes, helping to manage staff workload and ultimately delivering better outcomes for patients. All the while helping to deliver a cleaner, greener and more efficient NHS that is equipped for the 21st Century.”
It is not just on the administrative side where technology is playing a transformative role in the NHS. It is also behind a concerted drive to become more environmentally conscious and sustainable. Something highlighted earlier this month with the announcement that the NHS has adopted a multi-year plan to become the world’s first carbon net-zero national health system.
In addition to creating operational efficiency for staff and better outcomes for patients, the use of the Bantham Technologies solution also saved RWT over a million pages of A4 paper, which conserved ten million litres of water, enough to meet the annual recommended drinking water requirement for some 8,500 people.
Mr Parton concluded, “We are constantly looking to maximise patient care and staff satisfaction and our investment in technology is a key part of that strategy. Over the past eight years, Bantham has helped transform our operational processes and succeeded in implementing innovative technologies in the pursuit of on-going patient-centric care at the same time helping to improve the frontline service we can offer patients.”
