NHS Lanarkshire has trialled a digital system that can determine the health status of patients when they arrive at the emergency department and prioritize their treatment accordingly.
THE Alcidion The Patientrack digital patient observation system has been trialled by staff at Monklands University Hospital as part of the digital planning process for a replacement hospital scheduled to open at Wester Moffat in Airdrie in 2031.
Donna McHenry, Monklands replacement project redesign lead, said: “The aim is for the new Monklands to be Scotland’s first digital hospital, using systems that enable the most agile technology support for patients , staff and visitors.
“That’s why the current Monklands site is leading the way in digital advancements.”
Commenting on Patientrack, Dr Gordon McNeish, consultant in emergency medicine at Monkland University Hospital, said: “The new system no longer uses paper records to record key clinical observations such as blood pressure, heart rate heart rate, oxygen levels and temperature.
“Instead, clinical staff enter them on iPads as patients arrive in the emergency room and are assessed in the cubicles. »
Patientrack automatically calculates a National Early Warning Score (NEWS), which is displayed alongside real-time observations on a large touchscreen in the main clinical area, allowing clinicians to prioritize their patients and determine how often observations should be made without having to sort. paper files.
Dr Gautham Balachandran, consultant in emergency medicine at Monkland University Hospital, said: “We can all agree that Patientrack has improved knowledge of the identity of the sickest patients – we can see it on the big screen or on our computers.
“This makes emergency rooms safer for patients and more efficient for staff to evaluate and treat patients as quickly as possible.”
The technology was initially introduced to four wards at Monklands University Hospital in May 2019 before being deployed more widely in hospitalsin 2020.
The solution has also been rolled out to other acute care hospitals in NHS Lanarkshire: Hairmyres University Hospital in East Kilbride and Wishaw University Hospital.