Electronic alerts cut time patients spend on wards
Cancer patients admitted for emergency care at three Yorkshire hospitals are spending less time on wards thanks to electronic alerts for staff.
The Patient Electronic Alert to Key Workers (PEAKS) system was put into operation in September at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Bassetlaw Hospital in Worksop and Montagu Hospital in Mexborough.
It alerts key staff via email and text messages when a known patient with the illness attends any of the hospitals as an emergency admission, enabling them to be assessed earlier by their clinical team.
Analysis of 110 patients requiring palliative care, with lung cancer or with blood cancers, show the average length of stay of those admitted to hospital was reduced by between one and two days.