Vocera cuts Liverpool theatre delays

Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS trust is using an instant communications system to cut waiting times for operations.

Working with North Mersey Health Informatics Service, the trust is using Vocera to improve communication between the many individuals involved in preparing theatres and patients for operations.

Vocera is a wireless communications system that operates through a voice activated badge worn around the neck. Badge wearers can call other Vocera or landline users simply by saying the name of the person or team they want to contact.

At the Royal Liverpool, the system was initially deployed at one theatre. Monitoring showed that it had just one delayed start in four weeks – compared with 14 at another theatre. This amounted to a time saving of eight hours or up to ten operations per month.

Chief executive Tony Bell said: “We found one of the major problems we had in the smooth running of our hospitals was poor communication between theatres and wards and this is where Vocera has made a real difference.

“With staff able to speak to each other instantly, problems can be resolved quickly, patients are in the right place at the right time and less time is wasted. We have fewer delays, fewer cancellations and a higher number of operations are carried out every day because we are working more efficiently as a team.”

The trust now has 190 Vocera badges in operation by 724 staff. It is planning to roll out a further 110 badges across its 20 theatres, and is also planning to issue them to pre-op nurses so they can liaise directly with patients.

John James, project manager for the HIS, said: “As soon as staff try out the new system they find they do not want to operate without it. The improvements in efficiency we have made have been fantastic.”

Vocera helped the trust’s elective orthopaedic and theatre improvement team to win its annual award for quality, and the project has been short-listed for national industry awards.