East Lancashire hospitals to introduce Alcidion’s Patientrack e-obs tech

Five hospitals in East Lancashire are to introduce Alcidion’s Patientrack mobile electronic observations technology to help detect and respond to deteriorating patients.

Integrating with the trust’s Cerner Millennium system, nurses throughout East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust will use Patientrack as they carry out observations, with the technology able to integrate directly with devices used at the bedside to capture a patients’ vital signs.

Patientrack then uses generated measures to automatically calculate a patient’s early warning score before alerting appropriate clinicians if and when they need to take action.

Smartpage, a smartphone and web-based system for hospital communication and task management from Alcidion, will also be deployed in parallel with Patientrack. The messaging system can integrate with the e-observations technology and alerts clinical teams if they need to take urgent action. Staff will also use Smartpage to support the hospital at night workload, and to streamline patient handover between shifts.

The Alcidion technologies will be deployed across Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital, Burnley General Teaching Hospital, Clitheroe Community hospital, Accrington Victoria and Pendle Community Hospital.

Mark Johnson, CIO at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “Patientrack, which has delivered impressive results for patient safety in dozens of other NHS hospitals, accompanied by Smartpage, will be an important part of that digital roadmap and the deployment of our local EPR.

“We are confident that the experiences and learning from the deployment will support the regional objectives of having consolidated information for all patients. These are mobile technologies that our clinicians want to use, that can help to alleviate pressure and remove manual processes, and that can have a very immediate impact on patient outcomes and safety.”

Alcidion’s Patientrack was used at the Manchester Nightingale Hospital site in the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020.

Lynette Ousby, UK managing director for Alcidion, added: “East Lancashire Hospitals is showing its desire to accelerate digital adoption on a significant scale very quickly.

“We are proud to be part of that – and it is heartening to be widening our reach with hospitals in the North West where Alcidion itself also has a growing presence and will soon be opening a regional headquarters in Burnley.”