Sheffield Children’s Hospital educates families on new app
Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust has launched a multi-media campaign to educate families on a mobile care coordination app which it recently rolled out.
The campaign was designed to help educate young patients and their families on the changes they may see on the wards, as a result of the new mobile app – such as more nurses using iPads. Featuring Digital Theo and his digital dog, Barney plus a team of robotic dogs, it aims to put patients at ease.
Julia Antcliffe, Sheffield Children’s lead nurse for digital technology, said: “The robotic dogs were a lovely touch and have helped us communicate the digital changes taking place at Sheffield Children’s in a fun and personable way. We use them to start conversations and explain to the young people that we’re caring for, and their parents, what the app, iPhones and tablets are for.”
The new app that was introduced, CareFlow Connect, gives hospital staff secure digital access to each young patient’s information, including notes that can be updated in real-time. With over 3,500 digital handovers having taken place with the app so far, it is improving communication between healthcare professionals, reducing the reliance on paper and making handovers quick, easy and safe for patients.
The app also supports mobile and cloud-based instant messaging so staff can swiftly send and receive messages and log information wherever they are. It focuses on clinical communication and patient handover, while ICE Requesting is used for paperless investigation requests.
The launch of CareFlow Connect was provided by System C healthcare and forms part of an ongoing initiative for digital transformation at the hospital.
It’s not the first time that Sheffield Children’s has used technology with the aim of making its young patients feel comfortable. In January 2020 it introduced the Little Journey app to help children understand what to expect when they come to the hospital for surgery.
