Hospitals to benefit from new theatre system
TELECOMS provider BT has begun the roll-out of a theatre management system across 16 hospitals in the Province at the start of its biggest ever health contract with the government.
Developed by Newgate Technology, Sapphire Theatre is a hi-tech art programme being deployed by BT after a government audit identified operating theatres as under-utilised.
The solution fulfils the Department of Health’s remit of replacing paper-laden and inefficient processes with an automated system that supports improved patient care.
Sapphire records real-time information around operations and is capable of collecting data on session utilisation, cancellations, procedures performed and equipment.
“Our objective is to maximise the use of all the hospitals’ resources across Northern Ireland to reduce the time patients have to wait for treatment whilst maintaining a safe clinical environment,” said Des O’Loan, ICT programme manager at the department’s Directorate of Information Systems.
“We no longer have to dig through theatre ledgers to get clinical and management information. It’s now available in real time and can be shared with appropriate healthcare professionals contributing to patients’ care.”
BT CEO Chris Clark said the contract was a significant win.
“It is the first time that BT has facilitated and integrated an application to the health service in Northern Ireland. The system delivers improved clinical governance to management but it also works for the healthcare staff on the front line because it is so easy to use.”
BT has responsibility for the deployment in a five-year contract that started with project managing the initial proof-of-concept phase in the Belfast City Hospital.
Having successfully gone live in the Belfast Trust the roll-out has now been extended to cover the three theatres in the Causeway Hospital in Coleraine.
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Thursday 09 February 2012
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