View the video above to hear from Graham Taylor - Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust's Portering, Postal & Switchboard Manager talk about how the data provided by MyPorter allowed them to pinpoint reasons for delays, giving them the proof to back-up reasons for implementing change to their service, which saw them created the MINTED patient movement model - something which has seen great success in improving patient flow within the Trust.
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In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the pursuit of excellence continues to reshape patient care. As we delve into the National NHS objectives for 2023/24, it's evident that a strategic focus on portering services holds the potential to drive monumental shifts in patient outcomes, access, and safety. At GV Healthcare, we're committed to exploring the pivotal role of effective portering in meeting these objectives and revolutionizing the way healthcare is delivered.
Setting the Stage: NHS 2023/24 Priorities
As we enter 2023/24, the NHS outlines three key tasks to shape its trajectory. The first task revolves around recovering core services and productivity, closely followed by advancing the key ambitions of the NHS Long Term Plan. Transformation remains a fundamental thread interwoven into every action and strategy.
Immediate Priorities and Recovery
Central to the NHS objectives is the urgent need to recover core services and productivity. This demands focusing on several critical aspects, including:
Improving ambulance response times and A&E waiting times.
Reducing elective long waits and addressing the backlog of cancer cases.
Enhancing the core diagnostic standard to improve performance.
Facilitating seamless access to primary care services, with a special emphasis on enhancing general practice efficiency.
The Power of Recovery and Flow Improvement
A vital facet of achieving these objectives lies in enhancing productivity and optimizing whole-system flow. This involves a series of targeted actions, such as:
Reducing ambulance handovers and bed occupancy.
Enhancing outpatient follow-ups relative to first appointments.
Increasing day case rates and theatre utilization.
Exploring self-referral options for community services where GP intervention isn't essential.
Augmenting the workforce capacity in areas like beds, intermediate care, diagnostics, and ambulance services.
The Role of Effective Portering in Improving Flow
Among the array of strategies aimed at optimizing flow, the role of effective portering stands out. A well-coordinated porter service aligning with scheduled resource capacity and hourly call volume demand has demonstrated significant contributions to efficient patient flow and reduced wait times. By ensuring that clinicians can focus on patient care rather than porter tasks, prioritizing patients in need of urgent care, and fostering closer collaboration between clinicians and porters, the foundation for enhanced flow is laid.
Evidence from the Field
Take, for instance, Hull University Teaching Hospital Trust. They experienced an average time reduction of 90 seconds per task, resulting in enhanced efficiency. This integration of digital portering solutions, such as touchscreens with a digital portering system, has yielded remarkable outcomes. This integration provides real-time visibility into portering requests, enabling efficient allocation of resources. Notably, the system empowers staff to identify bottlenecks and allocate portering services based on demands, further streamlining capacity management.
Meeting the Challenge: A Collective Effort
Efficient portering is a cornerstone of capacity management and flow optimization in the dynamic environment of Emergency Departments. It's imperative to recognize that the capacity-demand dynamics are pivotal to effective portering services. In large acute-care hospitals, a significant proportion of in-patients access healthcare services through the Emergency Department (ED), necessitating effective flow management.
Voices from the Field: Enhancing Capacity Management
David May, Deputy Head of Facilities Logistics, highlights the concept of "push and pull." This system responds swiftly to sudden increases in activity, ensuring that porters are allocated to the right areas at the right time. Dave Houghton, Interim Portering Postal & Switchboard Manager, echoes the sentiment, emphasizing that the right allocation of porters enhances patient flow and overall efficiency.
Efficiency and Beyond
The integration of touchscreens and digital portering management systems has ushered in a new era of efficiency. By simplifying the portering request process, eliminating manual paperwork, and enhancing real-time visibility into tasks, these systems optimize operational efficiency. Mark Vipond, Porter Supervisor, praises the simplicity of touchscreens and how they've streamlined the process. Jay Choudry, Porter Supervisor, adds that the system allows efficient task prioritization throughout the day.
A Glimpse into the Future
As healthcare embarks on this transformative journey, the strategic deployment of effective portering emerges as a linchpin in meeting NHS objectives. With continuous advancements in technology and innovative solutions, the evolution of portering services is poised to enhance patient outcomes, optimize flow, and ultimately contribute to a healthcare landscape that aligns with the vision of the NHS 2023/24 priorities.
To find out more about how effective portering can drive NHS objectives and help your Trust, contact gvhealthcare@globalviewsystems.co.uk
Emergency departments are the front line of healthcare, providing critical care to patients in need. In these fast-paced and high-pressure environments, efficient and streamlined operations are vital. Efficient coordination between healthcare professionals and porters is crucial for ensuring patients receive prompt care. Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust embarked on their journey to digitise the ED portering management system to meet the evolving demand of a rapidly changing healthcare landscape in four simple touches.
The Need For Change
Manual paper-based systems often caused delays, miscommunication, and administrative errors. As the demand for healthcare services continues to rise, the limitations of paper-based systems became increasingly apparent. The inefficiencies in coordinating patient transfers, managing equipment, and communicating urgent requests posed challenges to staff productivity and patient care. Recognising these obstacles, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust decided to integrate MyPorter, a digital portering solution, with touchscreen devices to enable porter requests using the solutions’ Wizard Task Creator - a simple four-touch process to send a detailed task to a Porter - to address these issues head-on.
Enhanced Capacity Management
As a fast-paced healthcare environment, Emergency Departments often face resource constraints including limited porter availability. The integration of touchscreens with a digital portering system enables the trust to optimise capacity within ED. The system provides real-time visibility into portering requests, allowing for efficient allocation of resources. The system proactively encourages staff to identify bottlenecks and allocate portering services based on demands, further enhancing capacity management.
David May, Deputy Head of Facilities Logistics said “One of the key things that we find works very well is what we call push and pull. If an area increases activity quickly or on a short period of time the system would highlight that and we would put porters into the area”.
Dave Houghton, Interim Portering Postal & Switchboard Manager, said “It has enabled us to allocate porters to the right area quicker. It has also increased patient flow because now we have the right porter, in the right place, at the right time”
Helen Ingleson, Senior Matron, said “I would highly recommend MyPorter in ED. We’ve seen such a massive improvement; from jobs that have been requested, we can keep an audit trail and we always know where the porters are, where they are on the job. (Also), time spent with patients instead of chasing about looking after them (nurses no longer doing porter tasks), it’s just been absolutely amazing”.
Improved Efficiency
The digital portering management system offers numerous features that enhance operational efficiency in emergency departments. It enables staff to request portering services electronically with only a 4-touch process, eliminating the need for manual paperwork, speeding up the process needed within rapid and reactive environments such as ED. Mark Vipond, Porter Supervisor said “The touchscreens are really simple. You can set them up how the departments want them set up and literally in the touch of three or four buttons”.
Jay Choudry, Porter Supervisor, “MyPorter has brought a lot of efficiencies to the department. It helps us prioritise what tasks should be done at what point of the day” and continues to highlight how easy it is to put a porter request ever since the transition using the touchscreen saying, “It’s as simple as the name suggests – it's a touchscreen and it’s touch, touch, and go”.
Graham Taylor, Portering Officer, said “The data that we can produce in MyPorter enables to see our peaks and our troughs”. “We’re looking at efficiencies all the time. Ways to shave even seconds here and there. On average we’ve figured out (using the data from MyPorter) that we’ve saved 1 and a half minutes per task”.
Teamwork makes the dream work
The transition from a paper-based system to a digital system presented the team with challenges but the team made the transition effortless by working together. Zara Ridge, Head of Facilities Management, said “I think one of the things I’m really proud of is the team and how well they’ve worked with the system. Going from a very manual paper-based system to an electronic system and they’ve done that effortlessly. I think (we’ve seen) such hard work from everybody, so it’s been a really really positive step and something that we want to continue and build with MyPorter and Global View (GV Healthcare)”.
Get in touch today to see how MyPorter touchscreen can transform patient flow in your Emergency Department. Email myporter@globalviewsystems.co.uk or call +44 (0) 1482 772536
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