Patient flow management system installed across Hull community services

Staff at City Health Care Partnership CIC will be able to manage patient care more effectively across multiple community sites following an implementation of a patient flow management solution (PFM) developed by Cayder.

With patients due to experience improvements in their care pathway, including more contact time with healthcare professionals, Cayder PFM is supporting the partnership’s aim to deliver better, safer, patient-centred, joined-up pro-active care services.

Following the deployment, which is now in the final stages of testing, staff will be able to realise the quality and cost benefits associated with the Department of Health’s Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) initiatives such as Releasing Time to Care. It will also help to improve the experience for professional staff delivering care, enabling them to spend less time on administration and more time on the patient.

The partnership is deploying the Cayder Patient Flow Management solution for its community services, helping to relieve pressure on the local acute trust by facilitating the speedier discharge of patients into intermediary care.

The solution will provide intermediate care and re-ablement care service teams including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, technicians, and administrators, with an instant view of the current location and status of all patients or any subset of patients via an electronic whiteboard. It also supports quick, easy bed management, including real-time information on current bed status, as well as facilitating the quick allocation of beds for referrals and internal transfers.

Prior to the deployment, CHCP CIC’s employees were dependent on traditional, handwritten whiteboards and their general awareness of wards and bed availability.

Toni Yel, business development manager at the partnership, said: “The patient flow management solution is already providing benefits for both our patients and staff in the testing stage. The reduced volume of administration, including regular phone calls to co-ordinate discharge from acute care, means our staff can manage our care services more effectively and efficiently.”

Additional key features include a fully-customisable colour-coding system, allowing users to access comprehensive patient information on one screen.

Yel said: “The ward view lets us see an overview very quickly, while giving us the ability to touch on the patient card and access detailed patient data, such as expected date of discharge.

“We are now able to see not only the number of beds, but also the type of beds and rooms available. This helps us accommodate patients who have specific needs, for example non-weight bearing patients who require specialist equipment such as walking aids.