Those responsible for designing, building and running healthcare institutions are ruled by competing considerations that can often seem difficult to reconcile: offering the very best in patient care while delivering value for money and the efficient use of resources. They seek to commission services and solutions that offer value for money, resulting in lower lifetime running costs while enabling staff to deliver improved patient care.
A well-designed, well-built and well-maintained nurse call and communications system is an integral part of any healthcare facility, helping staff work effectively, while maximising the treatment and wellbeing of patients.
But selecting the right nurse call and communications solution can often be complicated, with several different manufacturers, models and types of system to choose from. To make sure you select a nurse call and communications system that is not only HTM 08-03 compliant but also delivers outstanding patient care, think PATIENT.
Patient experience
We believe nurse call communications systems must improve the experience of patients by allowing them to effectively relay needs to staff, and enable staff to prioritise and manage patient requests ensuring the best possible care.
Affordability
We believe consideration must be given to the long-term cost of ownership of a nurse call system. Factors that must be taken into account include reliability – such as reduced downtime, repair and maintenance costs – IT costs, storage requirements and software solutions that can be adapted to new or different systems and technologies.
Timelessness
We recommend solutions that use the latest innovations in telecommunications and digital technology, while employing the open standards common in today’s internet. This ensures they will easily adapt to future advances and make a system that is always fit for purpose.
IP
Industry experience shows systems that support Internet Protocol (IP), standard network protocols and topologies to transmit data across networks offer the most reliable and cost effective option for mission-critical healthcare communications. They enable centralised administrative and management features critical to maintaining a high standard of patient care, through the supervision of staffing levels and the monitoring of call response times. Such features include site-wide monitoring of a nurse call system to the site FM Team, SMS alerts and remote services.
Engineering excellence
We believe that for simplicity and reduced costs, choose nurse call solutions from a company that offers a complete service, from manufacture and install through to maintenance. This will simplify network and contract management and reduce inefficiencies and communication issues.
Network flexibility
We know that innovation in healthcare communications ensures constant evolution, so your network will need to change too. It’s essential to invest in a flexible solution that can be easily re-routed, extended, re-purposed or added to. IP systems provide the bedrock to future changes at lower costs.
Third party integration
We believe that no nurse call system should ever work in isolation. Systems that use IP connectivity allow for the simple integration of third party hardware and software, giving you the freedom to add features from any provider.
Find out more about the PATIENT approach at www.wandsworthhealthcare.com