ASSET TRACKING/SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
with its bed provider, and now the Trust is only charged when a bed is in use, not when it is kept in a storeroom. Once a month, actual usage data is sent to the supplier. This new arrangement has greatly reduced hire charges. In addition, the system records exactly how many days a patient has used a specialist bed, which can help with calculating a cost per patient.
Incident investigation In case of a patient fall, Debbie Quartermaine can precisely check which item of equipment was used, which aids any investigation into why an incident occurred. For example, if the patient fell from an ultra-low bed, this may indicate that the bed may have been set to the wrong position, and training may be required to avoid similar incidents in future. Where a patient who should have been in an ultra-low bed fell from a standard bed, this can highlight a possible shortage of suitable beds, and can culminate in a review of whether enough ultra-low beds are on site.
Accurate usage data from the RFID system supports Debbie Quartermaine with forecasting and planning to ensure that enough beds are available at any one time. She explains: “It is crucial that we get our numbers right. If we haven’t got an ultra-low bed available for a patient who
Simon Dawkins
Simon Dawkins, RFID Product manager – Healthcare, at Harland Simon, joined the specialist provider of RFID healthcare tracking solutions as RFID product manager in 2016, and says he is ‘devoted to promoting the benefits of active and passive RFID tracking solutions to healthcare providers throughout the UK’. In his role, he advises NHS Trusts and other healthcare organisations on the use of RFID technologies for their specific requirements, and supports them during implementation to ensure maximum benefit. He was previously head of the Medical Equipment Library at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), where he pioneered the use of active and passive RFID tracking for a total of 37,500 mobile medical devices, included the first roll-out of GS1-compliant asset labelling in an NHS Trust.
requires one, in some cases a standard bed has to be used instead. But this means that the patient will require 24/7 supervision, which can tie up an enormous amount of nurses’ or healthcare assistants’ time.”
Conclusion
In times of acute bed shortages and severely limited budgets there is clear and
convincing evidence that tracking beds and mattresses with RFID can support NHS Trusts in their efforts to maximise the use of existing assets, while at the same time improving patient safety.
References 1 Bed Availability and Occupancy Data – Overnight. NHS England, 2016.
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August 2018 Health Estate Journal 57
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