£200k Funding Bid Success
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital is delighted to have been awarded £208,900 by the Department of Health’s Nurse Technology Fund.
The funds will enable the Trust to purchase devices that wirelessly transmit observations such as a patient’s blood pressure and pulse directly into the electronic patient record.
The technology will also enable the introduction of an automated alert system which reviews the recorded clinical information and ensures that appropriate members of staff are alerted to signs of deterioration in a patient.
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital is the largest single site specialist heart and chest centre in the country and has a strong reputation for delivering high quality clinical services and some of the best patient care in the country.
In June 2013, it became one of the first trusts in the UK to successfully implement and launch an advanced electronic patient record system as part of its overall approach to improving patient safety, quality and efficiency.
Whilst nurses currently enter observations manually into the electronic patient record, the new technology will make the process quicker and safer, as well as freeing up nursing time to deliver care to patients.
The introduction of an automated alert system for clinical staff to respond to critical situations means that in the event of a patient’s health deteriorating, this will be recognised much more quickly, enabling rapid intervention and care from the clinical teams.
Sue Pemberton, Director of Nursing and Quality at the Trust, said: “We are absolutely delighted to have received this funding which will bring a significant number of benefits to our patients and staff. As well as helping to ensure that our patients are made even safer, it will also mean that our nursing teams can spend more time caring for their patients.
“The funding will also enhance our reputation as one of the most technologically advanced hospitals in the country.”
In October 2012 the Prime Minister announced the establishment of a Nursing Technology Fund to support nurses, midwives and health visitors to make better use of digital technology in all care settings, in order to deliver safer, more effective and more efficient care.
The Nurse Technology funding was allocated in two rounds. In the first round, 226 applications were received from 139 organisations and 74 Trusts awarded funding totalling almost £30m.
LHCH submitted its bid for the digitally enabled observations management project in the second round of funding in December 2014 and was notified of its success in January 2015.