Rollout of PTS on smartphones
This is the award entry for The rollout of PTS on smartphones, submitted by Lynfield Mount Hospital in the Best Use of Technology category
Utilising a CAFM system already in place for estates maintenance at Lynfield Mount Hospital, a decision was made to replace the current Dataease system within Patient Transport Services (PTS), which was 18 years old.
There were two elements which had to be considered. Firstly, the logging of the request. And, secondly, how the task would be actioned.
In the first instance the hospital set about developing the Reach Module (remote logging of requests) to enable the PTS groups to log their own transport requests directly onto the system.
This was carried out in-house with no additional cost to the organisation.
Prior to rollout, discussions were had with the service groups for their input into the new technological way of working and it was suggested that the option to be able to log an inward and return journey at the same time would make the process more efficient.
At this point they had to request the assistance of the CAFM supplier to create a workflow for this purpose. The cost of the workflow was £3,000.
While in the process of developing the Reach Module, the IT department removed the drive which contained Dataease, resulting it in being unrecoverable and causing a loss of client and historic information.
Fortunately, the majority of the client information had already been transferred on to the CAFM system, and this meant they had to start using the CAFM system immediately ensuring continuity of service.
Once the workflow had been created, Reach was rolled out to all PTS Service groups. 100% of all requests are now logged using Reach instead of by fax or email. An average 600 requests are logged per month for PTS, producing 1,200 journeys.
The next stage involved development of the smartphone activity platform.
As a team they reviewed the activity on the smartphone used by estates maintenance and produced a version which would be suitable for the Patient Transport Service.
After obtaining a quote from the CAFM provider, they decided to create the activity themselves, saving £35,000.
Following a number of months trialling the smartphone app to ensure no system errors, all PTS drivers were issued with a smartphone which contains their task activity for that day.
Training was provided, along with a user guide on how to progress through a request. Within one week all PTS drivers were using their smartphones effectively.
The PTS activity includes risk assessment and customer satisfaction survey, and a compulsory instruction step to ensure that the client is secure in the ambulance before the driver proceeds with the journey. Journey times are calculated ensuring that KPIs are achieved.
PTS Reach allows the service user groups to access the system which shows them in detailed information the status that their task is currently at, providing real-time information.
The introduction of this technology has reduced the manual administration input by 75%. The hospital also saved on printed paper 12 reams a year, which is almost one tree.
