To infinity and beyond: hospital app short-listed for national award
An app that allows A&E staff to call a porter using their mobile phone has been shortlisted for a prestigious Health Service Journal award.
The Infinity e-portering app replaced the practice of staff filling out a two page request form as well as reducing time spent following up portering requests at Northwick Park Hospital, one of the country’s busiest A&E departments.
It now co-ordinates more than 100,000 transfer requests a year as well as giving porters’ instant, up-to-date information about the patient they are collecting.
The time taken to complete a request is now six minutes faster than previously which translates to a saving of more than 10,000 hours and cancellations have been cut by 80%.
Dr Miriam Harris, Lead Consultant for Emergency Medicine, said: “More than 500 staff use the app and I’d be reluctant to return to our paper based system.
“The ‘jobs’ are tracked and the location of the porters recorded enabling more effective teamwork. The porter receives the full patient details so can better communicate with them and explain the purpose of their move and how they will return to their bed.”
The e-portering app, has been shortlisted for the Driving Efficiency Through Technology category at the Heath Service Journal Awards.
Sonia Patel, Chief Information Officer, said:“The collaboration with Infinity Health demonstrates how clinicans and users working with the right technology provider can genuinely improve the daily working lives of our people and, ultimately, improve patient care.”