Community staff currently take paper case notes and documents to and from appointments and return to the office to collect, drop off and complete paperwork, taking up valuable time that could be spent with patients. Working in partnership with Blackpool, Vodafone provided a secure and reliable mobile connection as well as tablet devices that best suit the type of information being sent and received. The solution also meets Connecting for Health standards.
Changes to the way community staff access and record information will mean that clinicians are able to work more efficiently and no longer need to travel back to the office to complete administration or pick up paper records. Clinicians who were part of the trial immediately saw the benefits. One clinician in the trial stated: "It will keep nurses field-based and make us more 'lean'."
Feedback from the trial also highlighted how important it is for staff to have access to various sources of information, such as to online web resources and clinical knowledge summaries, when making decisions at the point of care. Staff on the trial said access to this sort of information could ultimately help to prevent an admission into hospital.
Security was a fundamental part of the pilot and subsequent roll out, as Paul Morris, Assistant Head of Informatics and Performance at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust explains: "We wanted to ensure clinicians get the best out of the solution, while maintaining the highest standards of security and protecting patients’ data. Working with Vodafone, we put in place layers of security and encryption on the device and set up a dedicated private network. The key is to ensure the security measures protect the device and data without making it difficult for clinicians to use. The security we have in place is also simple and cost effective for us to manage, as much of the day-to-day management of the service is being handled by Vodafone's team of experts."
Paul Morris continues: "Based on the success of the trial, we're confident that the partnership with Vodafone and the move to making best use of technology will see us become more agile, efficient and improve levels of patient care for the people of Blackpool."
Blackpool is using Vodafone's Secure Device Manager (VSDM) for its on-device security software and device management. VSDM is designed to allow businesses to connect mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, to their corporate networks simply and securely.