Secondary Care

NHS Fife extends early warning system to community hospitals and paediatrics

NHS Fife has agreed a new five year deal with Alcidion for its Patientrack early warning system and will be extending its use across community hospitals and paediatric services.

The bedside monitoring system will now be used in health services across fife to manage and respond to patients at risk of deterioration.

Lynette Ousby, UK general manager for Alcidion, said “It’s a positive step to see the board extending the reach of Patientrack to more and more staff and clinical settings.”

The health board was the first to go live with the Patientrack early warning system in 2016, and at the time commented “For the first time the technology has given healthcare professionals real-time visibility of the sickest patients on individual wards across the hospital.”

The board said it improved “the way staff monitor vital signs and respond to deteriorating patients. Cardiac arrests have fallen by as much as two thirds in one of the busiest hospital areas after only six months of using the technology.”

Once the project is complete, the technology will be used across ten hospitals and community hospitals, totalling over 1,300 beds.

Kate Quirke,  Group Managing Director, Alcidion said “Our partnership with NHS Fife has seen significant patient outcome benefits including a reduction of up to two thirds in cardiac arrests in its Medical Assessment Acute Unit within the first six months of Patientrack deployment. It also facilitated the introduction of one of the most clinically relevant safety huddles in Scotland.”

“Hospitals in the UK continue to innovate with Patientrack, and have also recently started to adopt a COVID-19 assessment tool in the system, designed to help professionals assess their respiratory patients and intervene early when necessary.”