John Glover, Director of Informatics, Countess of Chester Hospital

1. Teletracking of Patients
John Glover – Director of IM&T

2. Background
• Countess of Chester Hospital:
− 600 bedded medium-sized District General Hospital
− 64 bedded Intermediate Care Service at Ellesmere Port Hospital
− 445,000 patients per year from areas covering Western
Cheshire, Ellesmere Port, Neston and North Wales
− 4,000 staff
− Vision "to transform our services to deliver the highest quality,
safest patient care through committed and capable people."
• Technology at the Countess:
• Meditech EPR implemented in 1999
• Evolve EDMS 2011
• Graphnet IDCR (Cheshire Care Record) 2015
• Ambition “to make the best use of technological advancements
allowing us to optimise patient care, improve efficiency and
reduce bureaucracy.”

3. Challenges
• Ageing population/reducing budgets/rapid rise of
long-term conditions
• Demonstrate efficiency through optimisation of
clinical and patient flow
• Fully utilise assets under management (staff, beds,
theatres & equipment)
• Delivery of services at scale across the Cheshire &
Wirral Local Delivery System part of the Cheshire &
Merseyside STP
• Decision making in real-time…

4. Patient & Asset Tracking System
• System to enable the real-time monitoring of
patients and hospital assets
• Utilises wireless network, infra-red transmitters and
individual RFID tags for patients and assets
• Real-time information about the hospital status
through live interactive big screen dashboards
• Automates staff work flows
• Enables real-time central control of bed state and
theatre capacity

5. Asset Tracking Tags
Device PatientStaff
2,500 Device
Tags
1,700 Patient
Tags
5,000 Staff
Tags

6. ‘Virtual
Walls’
Patient
wristband
Equipment
tagging
Hand
hygiene
Staff
badge
Real-time Tracking

7. Co-ordination Centre
• Capacity Management
• Patient Tracking
• Clinical Workflow
• Bed Tracking/Cleaning
• Real-time Locating
• Asset Tracking
• Patient Flow Dashboard
• Discharge Automation
• Teleconnect
• Hand Hygiene Monitoring

8. Anticipated Outcomes/Benefits
For the Trust:
• Management of patient flow
• Wrapping workforce around
patient need
• Use of technology to track
motion and location
For Wards & Theatres:
• Live screen displays
• At a glance bed/theatre status
• Countdown to discharge (ward)
• Contact time to patient
• Clinical alerts e.g. falls risks,
infections
• Finding equipment quickly
For the Co-ordination Centre:
• View of real-time bed status
across the Hospital – move
patients to the correct bed
• Clear view of requirement for
admission
• Ability to automate action e.g.
bed cleaning, portering,
equipment management
For the individual:
• Patient receives a ‘fit bit’ style
wristband attached to existing
patient band - patient consent
required
• Staff receive a tracker card in
addition to ID pass

9. Questions?
jglover1@nhs.net
01244 36 33 88