Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust's phlebotomists were able to take blood from 222 patients each shift, compared with 180 before, using three MCA computers, a wireless device designed specifically for healthcare.
The MCAs also reduced unnecessary blood tests, as the work was recorded immediately on a central system. Junior doctors also take blood tests, but as no record was kept, patients often had samples taken twice, particularly as doctors could not book tests after a certain time each day. With the new system, these could be requested until the phlebotomist entered the relevant ward.
"When we finished the pilot, we had to take away the three (MCAs) and the staff were heartbroken," Christine Walters, associate director of IM&T at Salford Royal, told Kable's Mobile and Wireless Healthcare conference in Manchester on 24 February 2009.
The trust negotiated a further year's use of the devices, which also printed labels at the bedside as the sample is taken. Previously, labels were printed in batches, leading to mistakes. The trust reckons the three devices saved £30,000 a year. "The process is so much simpler, so much safer, so much quicker," said Walters.
Salford Royal was one of three healthcare organisations globally, along with hospitals in Singapore and California, to test the MCAs. The devices, which were designed with input from NHS Connecting for Health, have a large screen which works through either touch or a proximity stylus, a large handle and smooth surfaces suitable for regular disinfecting.
Walters said Salford Royal is using in-ward computing, also including computers on trolleys and laptops, for other applications including pathology and radiology results. It plans to move electronic prescribing and all nursing and bedside documentation to mobile computers.
The trust has also piloted speech recognition, although there are problems over accuracy – particularly with short words such as 'two/to' – and over confidentiality issues from people overhearing dictation.
"We plan to be paper light," Karen Hill, head of electronic patient record services for the trust, with the focus on reducing paperwork rather than eliminating it completely.
However, she added that Salford Royal's work in this area had been delayed by Connecting for Health: "It's been our first taste of the National Programme – a bitter one, actually."
