Hospital implements pioneering healthcare comms

By Jo Makosinski | Published: 27-Feb-2023

New BEACH Building in Bournemouth will feature digital smart nursecall and infant tracking systems

In partnership with electrical contractor, W Portsmouth & Co, Ascom has been awarded the contract to supply and install healthcare communication technology to the Births, Emergency Care, And Critical Care and Child Health (BEACH) building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.  

The 23,000sq m, six-storey BEACH Building will provide a new maternity unit, children’s unit, enhanced emergency department, a 30-bed capacity critical care unit, and a purpose-designed pathology hub.

And its creation will make the Royal Bournemouth Hospital the major emergency hospital for Dorset. 

Planned to open in Autumn 2024, the BEACH Building forms part of a £250m transformation by University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. 

As part of the development, Ascom will provide its end-to-end digital smart nursecall solution to the project, including Myco 3 smartphones with mobile attack alarm software and near-real-time location tracking, in addition to fixed panic attack alarm technology. 

An infant tracking system will also be installed.

Working via an infant safe tag, which features anti-tamper technology, staff at the hospital will be able to monitor the movements of all babies under its care.

And the tracking system, which is RF and Wi-Fi enabled, will be integrated within the CCTV and security doors of the hospital. 

David Walters, senior account manager for Ascom, said: “When it’s completed, the emergency department alone at the BEACH Building will be larger than the current facilities in Poole and at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital combined.

“It’s a huge project in scale and ambition and its footprint will be the equivalent of 115 tennis courts. 

“The technology that will be used at BEACH is state of the art, helping with clinical decision making, workflow, and the security of both staff and patients.”

Ascom and W. Portsmouth & Co previously worked together on another flagship NHS project at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust. 

The main contractor for the development is Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a joint venture between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.

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