Pioneering computer system to help cut patients' hospital stays

Scarborough NHS Trust is the first one in the country to introduce RealTime onto its wards – an IT system to help plan discharges more effectively, ensure patients are seen more quickly, and cut infection risks from hospital superbugs.

RealTime uses the latest software tools to help staff reduce a patient's average length of stay and help improve patient flow while safeguarding and improving clinical services.

Trust chief executive Richard Sunley said yesterday: "We are delighted to be leading the way here at Scarborough with the introduction of RealTime.

"No one likes spending time in hospital, and we want to make sure that our patients are treated safely, while spending the least amount of days in hospital as possible.

"Reducing the average length of a patient's stay will also reduce the risk of patients developing healthcare associated infections such as MRSA and C. Difficile.

"RealTime involves every member of staff in the discharge process and aims to improve a patient's journey through our hospitals."

Trust chiefs initially embarked on this programme in November, but before rolling it out onto the wards wanted to ensure that the correct processes were in place to ensure success, including that staff were confident about using the new system.

Mr Sunley added: "Our in-house IT trainers have done an excellent job in training our staff and staff feedback has been extremely positive, once staff have seen how easy it is to use and the immediate benefits it brings."

The chief executive officer of of RealTime, Jim Gabriel, added: "We are delighted to be working in partnership with Scarborough and North East Yorkshire Healthcare NHS Trust.

"They are the first trust in the country to have gone live with RealTime and the feedback from staff has been extremely positive. RealTime makes it much easier for everybody involved in the patient's progress to collaborate and apply best clinical practices to the way the patient's discharge is planned and managed.

"This has enabled the trust to introduce and manage clinically driven length of stay targets for hundreds of conditions.

"Doing this in such a structural way is a huge step forward for any trust, and we are really impressed by everybody's willingness in Scarborough to embrace such visionary practices.

"Now that RealTime is live on the wards many other trusts across the country have expressed an interest in coming to Scarborough to see it."

To ensure everything was ready for the new system York-based CMA Associates were called in as consultants to oversee the changes.

CMA director Carol Limber, who has a clinical background and more than 20 years experience across the NHS, headed up the work on the wards to ensure that staff thoroughly understood the new approach.

She added: "Every trust in the country is faced with the challenge of reducing length of stay and Scarborough has demonstrated that the key to this is engaging all stakeholders and adopting a robust and focused plan to carry this forward."

The chief technical officer at RealTime Health, Dave Nurse, said: "The trust's RealTime project team have demonstrated great team work and a desire that has helped us to deliver this project on agreed timescales and to budget."

RealTime is now live on all wards at Scarborough Hospital apart from the Children's Ward, which will introduce it on June 28. Training has now started at Bridlington Hospital which went live this week.