The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has utilised technology from TeleTracking to report on, measure and predict Personal Protective Equipment numbers.
The tool allowed the trust to measure the amount of PPE needed day-by-day and week-by-week by front-line staff.
It mapped data on the use of PPE, with NHS guidance and modelled it in line with the predicted trends of the Covid-19 virus.
The data from 10th March – 9th April highlighted that across five wards, there were on average 21 staff interactions per Covid-19 patient each day. The data also showed a trend which suggested that the requirement for PPE would increase by a factor of 1.5 every 7 days, so the requirement on any day will be 50% higher than was needed 7 days prior.
Clare Nash, Senior Nurse for Clinical Procurement, said: “Given the demands on the NHS overall, we need to be able to more reliably predict PPE use based on staff contacts with patients. We knew that we had the capability to do this within our existing reporting, but no time!”
“The TeleTracking team have been able to run the initial analysis across our affected wards which gave us an indication of PPE usage. We have then been able to map this and look at predicted required numbers to keep staff and patients safe.”
“This analysis has both local and potentially wider importance; because not only is it vital in ensuring the safety of our staff locally, but it can help ensure we do not over-order PPE that is much needed across the NHS.”
