Sheffield children’s NHS foundation trust implements new emergency whiteboard

Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has implemented a brand-new process for patients arriving in the emergency department using a new electronic scheduling whiteboard.

The scheme, implemented in early July, sees patients arriving in the emergency department added to the Whiteboard immediately by emergency coordinators. The team can then add patients to appropriate theatre slots as needed, make quick scheduling changes and retain complete oversight of patient location, treatment status, CEPOD status and extra quality improvement goals known as CQUINs.

The Emergency Whiteboard, from Bluespier, is also fully integrated with the Trust’s EPR, Careflow. After patients are scheduled via the drag and drop functionality into the appropriate theatre slot on the Whiteboard, the central patient record housed in Careflow links automatically with the event, ensuring one accurate patient care record without the need to duplicate information.

Once scheduled for surgery, patients remain on the Whiteboard until staff make the decision to officially discharge, ensuring patients remain visible to care teams throughout their entire episode of care and staff have a true visual of the current resources of the emergency department.

Ben Jolly, Clinical Lead in Theatres at Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust: “The Bluespier Emergency Whiteboard has helped improve the organisation of patients booked onto the emergency theatre list. It allows us to plan patient care better and improve the care and experience that our patients receive.

Stuart van Rooyen, Managing Director at Bluespier, said: “This has been an excellently executed project thanks to the talent and diligence of the Trust staff, Bluespier and System C representatives. The majority of the implementation was managed remotely due to current restrictions but the excellent communication between teams ensured this went live without a hitch.”

“We understand the pressures that hospitals are under and are very proud that our solutions can help improve efficiency and ultimately patient care within high pressure environments.”

After just one month’s use, 203 patients have successfully been admitted via the Emergency Whiteboard.