Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has deployed the Zebra’s MC18 and MC55 mobiles computers along with technology from Zebra partner, Ingenica Solutions, for enhanced information management and patient care.
The trust has implemented a patient-focused digital transformation project powered by Zebra’s mobile computers which improve inventory management of medical consumables and enhance patient care and safety as well as supply chain and asset management.
The trust’s diagnostic teams now use Zebra’s MC18 devices at multiple stages during patient care. For example, they are used to scan patient wristbands every time consumables or implants are administered and barcodes when opening sterile instrument wrappers.
“With any new system, user adoption is critical,” said Deborah Watson, deputy supply chain manager at the trust.
“The NHS uses multiple solutions from Zebra Technologies so we were happy to follow Ingenica’s recommendation to deploy Zebra’s MC18 mobile computer. The total solution has delivered significant cost and time savings, including for our frontline caregivers, and ensures we are GS1 compliant.”
This process has helped to build an easily-accessible, detailed and accurate history of procedures and costs throughout the trust. It has also resulted in cost savings as the trust had £5m of balance sheet adjustments recovered through improved stock management.
The organisation also saved around 10,000 clinical hours of time, which equates to six full-time employees annually.
Zebra’s solution has enabled better information management, while adhering to strict Department of Health GS1 compliance. The trust also uses Zebra HC100 Wristband Printers and Zebra Z-Band Direct Thermal Wristbands for GS1-compliant patient identification.
Wayne Miller, healthcare director EMEA at Zebra Technologies, said: “This deployment clearly demonstrates that Zebra’s solutions save NHS money and time while delivering a performance edge.
“This ensures precious staffing resources can be more efficiently deployed to manage key tasks such as improving patient care and safety.”
