Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Barnsley Hospital has recently gone live with A&E Whiteboard, which replaces the manual whiteboards used previously.  It clearly shows the status of all patients within the emergency department in real time enabling nurses and doctors to quickly assess which patients require attention and where any bottlenecks may be forming, saving time and presenting information in a clear, concise way. It also helps them to keep tabs on patient waiting times, and ensure patients are seen within the four hours of when they arrive.

Dr Julian Humphrey, consultant in emergency medicine, stated; “Currently, Barnsley Hospital has one of the best performing emergency departments in Yorkshire with respect to patient waiting times. We are always looking at ways to improve the quality of patient care we provide. We have invested in this new technology from Extramed to replace our existing manual whiteboards with a more effective and easy to use computer system, designed to give staff a clear visual picture of what is happening at any one moment in the department.

“We aim to reduce unnecessary administrative time and phone calls to wards. This system will allow our doctors and nurses to concentrate on patient care, work more efficiently and resulting in a further reduction in patient waiting times. The system is linked to a similar system on the Acute Medical Assessment Unit and will enable us to work more closely and effectively when a patient is admitted to hospital. We will also be able to monitor our performance using reports generated by the Extramed system and highlight any areas for service development or improvement.”