SUCCESS IN ACTION

CHALLENGE THE MID AND SOUTH CHALLENGE ACTION • Each year, NHS Trusts spend • A common challenge among NHS find beds. Nurses were also sometimes these factors impacted getting the right between £2 million and £7 million Trusts is a lack of visibility related to tasked with bed preparation, which patient into the right bed. RESULT adding capacity in an effort to treat real-time bed capacity—leading to would cause delays in bed turnaround, UNIVERSITY more patients. Some have attempted beds not being cleaned as soon as they in addition to patients being placed in • Manual approaches to key processes SETTING THE building new wards and adding more became available, and the inability to the wrong wards because ED beds are were impacting the co-coordination of BAR FOR beds, but the challenges remain the fill beds when they were clean and ready. typically allocated on ‘time waited’ rather admissions and discharges from the HOSPITALS GROUP (MSE) same because core operational issues Periodically, nurses would roam wards to than ‘care needed.’ Combined, hospitals. SUCCESS haven’t been addressed. IN ACTION ,

ACTION

• The merger of the hospitals was viewed caregivers to view and anticipate bed reducing patient wait times, decreasing app allows caregivers to view bed status in as an opportunity to review workflows and demand and availability in real-time. MSE discharge times and lowering a patient’s real-time from their devices to make operationalize the care continuum in order also analyzes operations by using length of stay. data-driven decisions, ensuring that to improve overall efficiency, maximize ca- predictive models to anticipate down- patients get to the right bed sooner and pacity and provide excellent patient care. stream demand and adjust resources to • The 1,150-square foot facility is oper- receive the care that they need. changing circumstances in real-time. ated 24/7, 365 days a year by a staff of 52 • The decision was made to launch a nursing professionals. • The centralized control center also centralized control center to improve • The centralized control center allows makes it possible to track the location and co-coordination of patient admissions and MSE to identify root causes of operational • Operational decisions are driven by use of equipment across all MSE sites to discharges among the three sites and their inefficiencies across the enterprise and an independent executive team and a ensure that it is in the right place at the satellite locations, and to provide visibility make the correct decisions to eliminate managing director for each hospital in the right time. across the entire MSE system, allowing those inefficiencies—contributing to group. In addition, a complimenting mobile The Mid and South Essex University Hospitals Group (MSE) is comprised of three hospitals—Mid Essex, Southend and . MSE is an 1,800 bed system committed to providing the highest quality patient care. The planned merger of the hospitals, slated for 2020, was viewed as an opportunity to review workflows and operationalize the care continuum in order to improve overall efficiency, maximize RESULTS capacity and provide excellent patient care. Mid Essex Hospital Services NHS Trust provides a comprehensive range of acute and community-based services to a The implementation of the centralized • Nurse time back to care [August reduction; and the overall average was a 17.4% reduction local population of approximately 371,000. Southend University Hospital provides control center has provided the tools to 2019]—406 hours per week 17.4% reduction health care for nearly 330,000 people through a comprehensive range of acute analyze metrics and determine the factors With the improved operational efficiencies that are driving those metrics. With • Bed assignment time (time waiting in • Cancelled operations (number of generated by the control center, the wards services found at the main Prittlewell Chase site and at outlying satellite clinics this information, the trusts now have a ED for a bed to be assigned) reduction [No- last-minute elective operations canceled are quieter and consequently less stressful across the region. Basildon and University Hospitals NHS Foundation complete picture of the overall patient flow vember 2018-August 2019]—Mid Essex for non-clinical reasons) reduction [based for the nursing staff. In addition, patients Trust primarily provides services for 405,000 people living in southwest Essex process, as well as the actionable data to Hospital Services had a 56% reduction; on averages using April-June 2018 data are receiving the care they need more covering Basildon and Thurrock, together with parts of Brentwood and . make the adjustments that result in an Southend University Hospital had a 52% compared to April-June 2019 data]— quickly, improving both their satisfaction enhanced patient experience. For example: Southend University Hospital had a 46.6% level and overall outcomes. reduction and the overall average was a

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