Great Western Hospitals to deploy Zebra devices in standardisation project

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is planning to roll out Zebra’s HC20 mobile computers as part of a project to standardise data capture devices and technology across the Acute Hospital Alliance.

A spokesperson at Great Western told Digital Health News that the roll-out was “part of a large programme of work to replace and upgrade digital infrastructure across the organisation, by standardising hardware alongside Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust,” the two other hospitals which are part of the Acute Hospital Alliance.

“Over the next six months, the trust will start rolling out Zebra’s HC20 mobile computers, which are handheld devices able to record electronic observations from patients.

“Moving to handheld devices will allow staff easier and more efficient access to a patient’s medical observation records, will improve the patient experience and will save money, as the volume of the purchase will reduce cost,” they added.

The three trusts which form the Acute Hospital Alliance put out a collective tender to homogenise technology in February 2024.

Dakota Integrated Solutions Ltd won the tender and brought Zebra Technologies into the project to provide new hardware to replace legacy devices, according to a press release published by Dakota.

Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust deployed 250 Zebra HC20 mobile computers in March 2024.

The android-based mobile computers, which are designed for healthcare professionals, include an integrated scanner which enables the team at Salisbury to run its in-house developed eObservation solution and stock management application on the device, without the need for additional software.

Andy Scott, IT service manager at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said the the trust “had a requirement to update its existing ageing Zebra devices, recognising the importance of maintaining strong cyber security”.

A Dakota spokesperson told Digital Health News that Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is set to roll out “significantly more” android devices than at Salisbury.

Charlie Cowan, account manager at Dakota said: “We have been working alongside Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust for several years in collaboration with Zebra to support its estate of data capture and printing devices.

“We are delighted to be part of this standardisation project with Zebra and are very much looking forward to the next stages of this exciting endeavour.”

In May 2024 the three trusts announced plans to deploy a shared electronic patient record (EPR), delivered by Oracle Health.