Digital status board for key hospital equipment
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust has transformed how to communicate the status of key hospital equipment to staff, ensuring quick and efficient updates when downtime occurs. By adopting a more targeted approach, the team introduced a “crowd-sourcing” methodology, empowering those who work directly with the equipment to report issues immediately. Through the Intranet, staff can now instantly view the status of equipment that is most relevant to them, ensuring timely and accurate information for everyone.
Contact Details
- Conor O’Neill - Innovation Manager
- Gateshead Health NHS FT
- [email protected]
Project Dates
Project Start 28/09/2023
Project End 02/01/2024
Programmes
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"The implementation of the Equipment Status Board has significantly enhanced our communication efficiency, enabling us to get targeted messages about key equipment to the people who need to know and reducing the time the communications team spends drafting and sending all-user emails. The initiative also ensures our staff have real-time access to crucial updates, without the delay caused by creating and signing off email communication. We've not only reduced our carbon footprint but also streamlined the process of equipment alerts and eliminated mass emails going to people for whom they are not relevant. This innovation is a testament to our commitment to sustainability and excellence in healthcare delivery."
Providing timely updates to the relevant staff on the status of key hospital equipment is crucial for ensuring an effective response to unexpected downtime. Prior to implementing this innovative approach, all updates were centrally managed by the Communications team and sent out via all-staff emails. This led to a large cascade of emails, many of which were irrelevant to staff whose work didn’t involve the equipment in question. Although reading, filing or deleting a single email may only take a few seconds, the cumulative time spent by staff in managing these emails was significant. It was estimated that up to 640,000 emails relating to equipment status updates would be delivered by Trust servers annually.
By utilizing SharePoint Lists, departments can now update the status of their equipment, providing near real-time information to staff across the Trust via a dedicated page on the Intranet. For those who prefer email notifications, staff can subscribe to specific equipment by selecting the ‘Alert Me’ option, automatically receiving an email whenever the status changes.
- A list of key equipment was generated and the in-house Development Team created a dedicated intranet page host the list.
- Local administrative representatives were identified (staff members who work within the department that houses/uses the equipment).
- Training was prepared and rolled-out to the representatives on how to update the status of equipment and subscribe to alerts (video instructions provided by Development Team).
- The page is now “live” and has been updated regularly when equipment downtime occurs.
The Communications team directed staff to the Equipment Status Board page on the intranet to increase visibility and engagement.
- 18 pieces of key equipment added to the list, from x-ray scanners, to Vocera devices.
- In the first 6 months the Equipment Status Page has had 692 page views, 346 unique views.
- This innovation saves our servers from handling approximately 640,000 emails per year.
- 5 weeks of staff time saved by reducing email management burden.
- 166.4 kg of CO2 saved.
Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust has transformed its communication of equipment downtime, benefiting staff and the Trust by providing faster, more relevant updates. Through a targeted, “crowd-sourced” system, staff directly report equipment status via the Intranet, replacing previous all-staff emails. This innovation saves 9.5 weeks of staff time annually and reduces email clutter. The Trust now handles 640,000 fewer emails each year, improving operational efficiency and lowering environmental impact. With better access to real-time information, staff can respond more effectively, enhancing patient care and hospital performance.
The average carbon footprint of an email is 0.3g CO2. An email that takes 10 minutes to prepare and then sent to 100 people via a distribution list consumes 26g CO2. If it has an image or attachment then this figure goes up to 50g CO2.
Based on these figures, Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust estimate that by using this new Equipment Status Board it is now saving 166.4kg of CO2 annually – equivalent to driving a petrol car for 416 miles or producing 16,640 plastic bags
Advised on methods of staff engagement, disseminated the initiative via their Innovation Forum.
The next steps for Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust include expanding the Equipment Status Page to cover a broader range of equipment across more departments, ensuring all staff benefit from timely updates. Ongoing training will be provided to new administrative representatives as additional equipment is added to the system. The Trust also plans to increase staff engagement by promoting the Intranet page and the “Alert Me” feature to encourage wider adoption. As the system matures, there is potential to share this innovative approach with other NHS Trusts, enabling them to achieve similar operational efficiencies and staff time savings.