We’ve been shortlisted for a national award in recognition of the role technology can play in delivering patient safety.
The Trust’s in-house Information Communication and Technology (ICT) team developed CareScan+, a unique system which uses barcodes and scanners to identify patients and equipment.
Carescan+
Hello, my name is Tony Naylor and I’m the Associate Director for ICT at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and also the program lead for CareScan+.
No we’re already are used to seen the established use of bar codes in other sectors such as retail. Here at the Trust we’re applying these technologies to wide applications in healthcare setting. And we do this using a system called CareScan+ which has been developed locally here in the Trust and it’s something we can now use alongside our other systems to capture data to help the care of our patients. We use unique barcodes to identify people out patients and staff as well as products and locations. We provide our patients with a wristband that includes our own unique barcode, anything else would need to scan will typically have its own bardcoe and then it’s simply a case of using the system to scan information. This is done very quickly very reliably, very easily.
[On screen: image of how CareScan+ catches data].
The data that CareScan+ captures is used as part of our patient record.
It also has value because when we process it. It helps us enable further patient safety improvements and resource efficiencies. When using CareScan+ for example we can confirm the products are in date, we can manage the supplier recalls and track and trace surgical implants more easily and more quickly. We can also provide feedback to our clinical and non-political staff in the form of decision support advice. This advice appears on the screen and is displayed at the precise instant when they scan a barcode for a particular product and pieces of medical equipment. The scanner also shakes when there is an alert and this acts as a further prompt to check that importantly to respond to the warning it helps me prove safety. As we’ll also explain the system is a great aid to tracking and tracing things. Our clinical experts have significantly contributed to the design and testing of care scan + and whilst we wholly-owned the system we called upon an established software provider from the healthcare sector to assist us in building and supporting it. Our plan is through our CareScan+ across the trust wherever we see a benefit. We’ve completed some really promising proof-of-concept work with our wards and theatres and is more to follow. CareScan+ can help support our focus on putting patients first and releasing time to care
My name is Anthony Kennerley I’m the CareScan+ project manager at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust. The corona virus pandemic has presented the Trust with many challenges one of which was understanding the capacity, availability and locations of our non-invasive ventilators around hospital. Our team was approached and asked if we could only provide an asset tracking and tracing solution. Working at speed with our clinicians we adapted the existing functionality within the care counts of where to meet the requirement. The software is easy to use. Clinicians use a handheld device to scan the CareScan+ barcode on the equipment de-select then select a checklist and answer two questions: The current states of the equipment is it inpatient use available
for use up for cleaning or up for repair and what is the current location.
Once both questions have been answered they simply select the complete button that’s it. It takes nor more than 30 seconds. As part of the solution, we developed an easy-to-read dashboard which is accessed via the Trust’s internet homepage. [On screen: image of dashboard]
The dashboard shows in real-time the current status and current location of all the non-invasive ventilators throughout trust. Knowing the location and current status of the equipment is vital in supporting our clinicians and the fight against COVID-19.
CareScan+ has been nominated for a Health Service Journal (HSJ) Patient Safety Award in the ‘Best HealthTech Solution for Patient Safety’ category.
Tony Naylor, Associate Director for ICT, said: “Thanks to everyone who has been behind our work.
“It’s taken a significant effort to get CareScan+ up and running. The whole Trust is committed to safe and efficient patient care and we had huge support to develop the system.“
“It’s been hard work, but worth every second.”
Anthony Kennerley, CareScan+ Project Manager, said: “We couldn’t do this without the close working partnership with our clinical colleagues. We worked hand-in-hand to develop a tech solution to improve patient safety.
CareScan+ was trialled in late 2019 and is used by clinical staff to scan items, such as replacement hip and knee joints prior to being used in the operating theatre. CareScan+ maintains a record of surgical implants used for re-order purposes, and in addition the system can also provide decision support by raising warnings to the person scanning the item. For example, the handset will inform the user if the item is out of date or some other aspect of its use needs to be checked.
When using CareScan+ to scan surgical implants, the items can be traced much more quickly than they could in the past. So in the unlikely but possible event of a manufacturer’s recall, every patient who has received the recalled product can be identified within minutes so that any necessary review and follow-up is arranged much sooner.
The HSJ Patient Safety Award nomination recognises the innovation of the CareScan+ project and its role in improving safety.
Follow this link for the full list of nominees for the 2020 HSJ Patient Safety Awards.
Winners will be selected ahead of the ceremony, which will take place virtually as part of the Patient Safety Virtual Congress and Awards in November 2020.
