NHS trust deploys mobility tool with Vodafone

Hospital IT

Nurses at an NHS Trust are able to spend more time working in their community after Vodafone helped deploy a mobility solution.

London North West Healthcare NHS Trust has replaced its paper-based system with TotalMobile, a mobile working tool, rolling it out to 245 nurses who can now get patient details via mobile devices when they make house calls.

The system was deployed six weeks ago by Vodafone UK, and integrates with the Trust's patient record system, RiO, to enable staff to view and edit patient records via a tablet.

Nurses can also use the devices to see their list of appointments for the day, and the Trust expects a drastic reduction in travel, as nurses will no longer need to return to the office to update records and check their schedules.

Shelly Roberts, the Trust's project manager, said: "Vodafone and TotalMobile have shown a good understanding of a district nursing service and have been very responsive.

"The implementation of mobile working is long awaited by community services and it has been great to see the excitement across the service as the solution has been rolled out."

District nurse Fiona Murray added: "This is a wonderful new way of working as now, before I arrive at a patient's house, I have been able to read the patient's notes and have all their details to hand, including how to contact their GP.

"In the past, I just had the patient name and details of care that I needed to provide. To be so informed before you meet a patient really improves the care you can provide.

"The system also allows me to order equipment; I can discuss the patient's needs with them and if equipment is required to make their home life easier, I can order it there and then."