North Lincolnshire mobilises health workers

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Community nurses in North Lincolnshire are to receive field force automation mobile technology to increase productivity and reduce operational costs, it was revealed today.

North Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus said it had signed a five-year contract with BT for its managed Mobile Health Worker service to enable access to critical patient information, irrespective of time or location, at the primary point of delivery.

The announcement said an early community pilot found the Mobile Health Worker technology can improve patient care and deliver productivity and cost savings estimated at more than £400 per week, per clinician.

Trevor Wright, associate informatics director for North Lincolnshire PCT and North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus, said: "Our community based practitioners cover a wide geographic area and spend a considerable amount of time out of the office."

He said staff involved in the pilot found that they saved time by consulting patients' full records, email and support systems and databases in-between appointments and at the time of consultation. And he added that this meant "they could both keep records updated and make fully informed assessments and clinical decisions without going back to the office".

"This will obviously demonstrate considerable cost efficiencies, but more importantly it will improve the patient experience," said Wright.

The Mobile Health Worker technology supplied is a Panasonic Toughbook T7 laptop, including a built-in antenna, GPRS SIM card and BT's Field Force Automation technology. The BT managed service is made up of fully tested end-to-end security, a managed service help desk, business management for a single point of contact and mobile express GPRS access.

Kathy Drayton, a North Lincolnshire PCT district nurse, said: "Many of the patients seen in their own homes have complex health needs - and being able to access their medical records during the visit means you can make more informed decisions about planning care and treatment."

"Real time access to patient records, planned care and current health service provision can reduce the need for unnecessary referrals and hospital admissions," she added.

Stuart Hill, BT Health's chief executive of sales, also told IT PRO this was the first major Mobile Health Worker deal BT had signed in the National Health Service (NHS).

He said the roll out would cover 140 staff in the first phase, increasing to 400 later and that users would gain access to data over the Trust's secure network using a ID token that generates random passcodes, while the Trust would handle the integration with its access and identity systems.

Role and privilege-based access to secure applications and confidential records is provided with the smartcards already used by NHS staff will also be integrated with the Toughbook's built-in smartcard reader, Hill said.

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