Trust implements real-time analytics solution to better manage patient flow

Posted on: 12 March 2019

A new Analytical Command Centre has been created at the Trust’s Royal Lancaster Infirmary site that is helping staff to improve patient management, care and experience.

The command centre has been designed to work in a similar way to airport Air Traffic Control and displays live information about patients throughout their hospital stay, from incoming patients travelling via ambulance to patients waiting for discharge home.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) holds patient flow meetings every two hours and the new Analytic Command Centre will help teams to better analyse the emergency care setting and patient flow in and out of the hospital.

The new screens show live information including:

  • Which patients are due for discharge and themes of why there may be delays
  • The performance in the Emergency Departments (ED) which allows staff to see the status of ambulances, the number of walk-ins and if there has been a surge in patients
  • The amount of admissions to hospital through outpatient appointments and departments such as the Ambulatory Care Unit
  • The current bed state across the Trust which helps teams to manage the demand for beds across the hospital and ease the amount of patients in ED.

Stuart Hosking-Durn, Head of Resilience and Patient Flow for UHMBT, said: “Our great colleagues from the Informatics Team have given us the ability to have live information fed into the control room which will greatly improve our ability to manage patient flow, patient safety and the overall effectiveness of the services we offer to our patients.”

Rob O’Neill, Head of Information, UHMBT, added: “We’ve co-designed the solution with our clinical and operational colleagues and feedback tells us we’ve got a solution that’s making a positive impact to patient care. We’re attracting national and international interest and are looking forward to collaborating with other care systems to continue to innovate and support more efficient and safer care.”

Foluke Ajayi, Chief Operating Officer, UHMBT, said: “We are delighted to be able to invest in the new Analytic Command Centre and we welcome this new way of working at the Trust which will improve patients’ experience of our hospitals.”

You can find out more about our command centre at https://twitter.com/i/status/1073569841544642571