1. The relationship was formed
when an asset tracking and Real
Time Location System (RTLS)
was supplied and installed by
ANT Telecom. This enabled better
management of vulnerable patients,
improved patient flow, as well as
allowing greater transparency of the
location of specialist medical
equipment and to help meet asset
audit requirements.
Background
Following the implementation of
campus wide Wi-Fi at Newcastle
upon Tyne Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust (NUTH) for
accessing patient data, the Trust
decided to explore further uses for
the network. NUTH decided to
implement a Real Time Location
System (RTLS) to aid the locating of
specialist medical equipment and
required a solution that could
operate via the exiting Wi-Fi network,
without installing any additional
equipment. The ANT Telecom RTLS
solution appealed to NUTH due to
the ease of implementation and
potential time savings.
Bob Beckwith, Data and
Telecoms Manager, Newcastle upon
Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation
Trust comments, “The ease with
which the ANT Telecom RTLS
solution integrated with our current
network meant there was very little
work to do. We could simply attach
the tags to the medical devices and
get started with minimal disruption.”
He adds, “Getting the solution
ready for use was relatively straight
forward, the challenge was
introducing it to staff for use in
clinical environments. That is where
the support of ANT Telecom was
used; they talked to staff within
multiple directorates to establish what
their requirements were. This End
User focused approach ensured that
the needs of the business were met.”
Asset management
NUTH initially implemented RTLS
within the EME Services Department
on pieces of specialist mobile
equipment that are used throughout
the hospital sites, to allow better
management of the assets by aiding
the location of the equipment for
both use, maintenance and for
auditing purposes.
Jeff Stephenson, EME Services
Officer, Newcastle Upon Tyne
Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
comments, “By combining the RFID
tagging solution with the 100%
wireless network coverage over our
two main sites, we can now identify
where equipment, assets or patients
are throughout the hospital within a
two to three metre accuracy.”
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS
Foundation Trust sees multiple benefits from
implementing a real time location system
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals (NUTH) NHS Foundation Trust
has been a customer of ANT Telecom for over six years
Call 01494 833100. Visit www.anttele.com
Avaya Partner in Customer Excellence
ANT Telecommunications Limited, Swift House, Peregrine Business Park
Gomm Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP13 7DL
Case study

2. Jeff Stephenson adds, “The basic
principle of the asset tracking
solution or RTLS solution is
delivering a number of benefits; one
is resource efficiency from a
maintenance perspective, in terms of
locating an item when maintenance
is due. Previously, medical devices
could be anywhere within 80 wards
or 50 operating theatres; they can
now be accurately tracked on the
computer before we leave the
department to collect them, saving
technicians valuable time.”
“We have also created a virtual
equipment library that allows staff to
locate specialist equipment 24/7.
Previously, staff would have had to
contact each ward to see if the
equipment was there and if it was in
use, which was neither an effective,
nor reliable method of tracking the
many medical devices we have. Now
we can pinpoint the equipment
within the hospital and can then
contact the particular ward to check
its availability.”
Patient benefits
Following the success of the asset
tracking solution, NUTH decided to
invest further and work with ANT
Telecom to provide tags to both the
Neurology Departments for
vulnerable patients and also for the
patients waiting for appointments
within the Oncology Department.
Within the Neurology Department
vulnerable patients are given tags
that support the physical security
measures already in place at the
Trust, by allowing hospital staff to
monitor the patient’s location if they
leave the ward, increasing patient
safety. Bob Beckwith comments,
“Previously we had concentrated on
the more physical safeguards such
as locking door systems and access
control into the wards. The tags
enhance this to provide site wide
visibility.”
The Oncology Department
implemented the tags as a means of
improving the patient experience by
notifying patients when their
appointment is, allowing them to
move freely around the hospital as
opposed to being restricted to the
waiting room. Beckwith comments,
“Patients in other departments have
been given tags that vibrated at their
appointment time but the solution
was limited as it was restricted to a
limited physical area. If patients had
left the waiting room we could not
locate them. However, now as the
Wi-Fi network is hospital wide, they
can move freely and we can locate
them to notify them of their
appointment as required.”
Future efficiencies
The Trust has, to date, deployed 500
tags on specific pieces of equipment
where there is a need to share or
monitor the equipment’s location.
The Trust aims to invest in more tags
to enable them to track a greater
number of medical devices. NUTH is
also planning to look into the
additional capabilities that the
solution has to provide further
efficiencies and time savings.
Jeff Stephenson comments
“Overall ANT Telecom has been
excellent in supporting us. We have
great communication with the team
and they worked with us to
customise the system to our very
specific needs.”
Jeff Stephenson adds, “One of the
functions of the asset tracking
solution that we are currently
examining is identifying the frequency
of asset use. Therefore, when
requests are made for additional
equipment we can assess how
urgent or important the request is.
We will be able to make informed
decisions that will prevent us
purchasing unnecessary equipment.”
Jeff Stephenson concludes,
“Moving forward, there are other
benefits that the RTLS tags can be
used for in terms of the management
of assets - rather than just locating
the physical equipment, it could be
used as a status update as to
whether equipment is cleaned,
providing an audit trial of hospital
cleaning procedures and also giving
staff real time visibility of when
equipment is clean and ready for
use. These are hugely exciting areas
that we are looking forward to
exploring with ANT Telecom.”
Call 01494 833100. Visit www.anttele.com
Avaya Partner in Customer Excellence
ANT Telecommunications Limited, Swift House, Peregrine Business Park
Gomm Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP13 7DL
Case study