NHS Fife extends early warning system to community hospitals and paediatrics

A technology that has helped healthcare professionals deliver a step change in patient safety will now aid many more staff working in Fife’s community hospitals and paediatric services to rapidly respond to patients at risk of deterioration.

NHS Fife, the first board in Scotland to go-live with the Patientrack early warning system, announced it had used the technology to help cut cardiac arrests by two thirds in its busiest hospital areas in 2016.

And staff have continued to draw on the system to quickly identify their sickest patients, to capture patient observations and vital signs, and to alert professionals when patients require rapid intervention.

The system also helps healthcare professionals to spot deadly illnesses like sepsis early.

NHS Fife has provided a positive story in Scotland for using technology to help enhance patient safety and patient care, and to alleviate pressure on busy staff

Now, a new extension and renewal agreement with technology provider, Alcidion, for an additional five-year term, will extend the board’s use of the electronic bedside monitoring system across the whole estate.

NHS Fife will build on success in its major acute hospital environments and move into rapid implementation of the solution across its community hospitals and paediatrics specialty.

Lynette Ousby, UK general manager for Alcidion, said: “NHS Fife has provided a positive story in Scotland for using technology to help enhance patient safety and patient care, and to alleviate pressure on busy staff. It’s a positive step to see the board extending the reach of Patientrack to more and more staff and clinical settings.

“As other NHS boards look to developments in Fife, we hope to spread achievements further to help tackle immediate priorities and to help Scotland deliver on national ambitions in its Digital Health and Care Strategy.”

NHS Fife will now deploy Patientrack across a minimum of 10 hospitals, including two main acute hospitals and a network of community and day hospitals, amounting to approximately 1,342 beds.

The technology works by ensuring that crucial observations are not missed and allows nurses to capture vital signs digitally at the bedside.

Our partnership with NHS Fife has seen significant patient outcome benefits, including a reduction of up to two thirds in cardiac arrests in its medical assessment acute unit within the first six months of Patientrack deployment

Patientrack then accurately calculates the patient’s early warning score and automatically calls doctors to intervene when signs of deterioration are present.

The system continues to escalate calls until patients receive an appropriate response.

This has already meant that nurses no longer need to manually phone for doctors to attend, and can more-effectively prioritise patients.

Alcidion group managing director, Kate Quirke, said: “Our partnership with NHS Fife has seen significant patient outcome benefits, including a reduction of up to two thirds in cardiac arrests in its medical assessment acute unit within the first six months of Patientrack deployment.

“It also facilitated the introduction of one of the most-clinically-relevant safety huddles in Scotland.

“We are delighted to be supporting the delivery of NHS Fife’s clinical and technology strategy, as well as supporting NHS Scotland’s patient safety strategies and ambitions for the use of clinical, digital and information strategies.”