The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust continues its digital transformation project

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has continued its major digital hospital transformation project with the recent go-live of Intouch with Health’s digital patient flow technology at Rotherham Hospital.

This project is the latest phase of the trust’s approach to create ‘the digital hospital model’, which has seen Intouch with Health’s patient flow technology launched in different departments and sites throughout 2021 and 2020.

June 6 2022 saw the Main Outpatients Department, Dermatology, Paediatrics, Darshane Unit, Whiston Unit and Endoscopy officially launch Version 8 of Intouch with Health’s Flow Manager solution, free-standing self-check-in kiosks and digital patient calling screens.

Centralised, PAS integration patient flow management

Flow Manager is at the heart of Intouch with Health’s patient flow technology. The Patient Administration System (PAS) integrated dashboard enables staff to control the flow of patients throughout outpatients and view the status of each patient in real-time – including if they have arrived and checked-in, if they are late, if they have been called to be seen, and if the appointment has started. The status of each patient’s journey is viewed in real-time by all relevant staff, regardless of their location across the hospital.

Using free-standing digital kiosks, patients can now self-check-in, or they can attend the reception area if they prefer. Using the self-check-in kiosks, patients can avoid any queues at reception and help reduce time spent ‘checking-in’ for their appointment. Once the patient has checked in for their appointment using the kiosks or the reception area, the Flow Manager dashboard is automatically and immediately updated, alerting all staff to the patient’s arrival. Using Intouch with Health’s Calling solution, patients can then be digitally called forward to see the clinician, when the clinician is ready to see them. As a result, clinicians do not need to leave the clinical setting to call patients forward, resulting in time and efficiency savings.

David Warburton, Regional Sales Director at Intouch with Health, said: “We are delighted that, following the successful introduction of Intouch with Health’s digital patient flow technology at its satellite sites, including Greenoaks, the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit and the Rotherham Community Health Centre, the trust has chosen to continue to expand the use of the patient flow technology to its main hospital site.

“Intouch with Health’s technology will help manage the trust’s 250,000 outpatient appointments per year by allowing patients to check-in for their appointment with a smooth and efficient process which also releases staff time, enabling staff to spend time with patients requiring one-to-one support on arrival.”

He continued: “The introduction of digital self-check-in kiosks for patients to register their own arrival and calling screens to display clinic waiting times and call patients forward to their clinician has already proved successful with patients and staff alike, helping to reduce check-in queues, support social distancing measures and improve communication between staff and patients.

About Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust is a combined acute and community Trust providing services at Rotherham Hospital and across the borough to a population of 264,700 people.

The 370+ bed Rotherham Hospital first opened in March 1978 with Rotherham community services integrating with the Trust in 2011.Today, the trust continues to provide a full range of district hospital and community services to Rotherham and the surrounding area alongside partner organisations.The Urgent and Emergency Care Centre (UECC) opened in 2017 and sees approximately 75,000 attendees per year, and there are approximately 55,000 inpatients and 250,000 outpatient attendances each year.