Case Studies

16 June 2011

Caring Communications for Learning Disabilities:

carried by the facility’s staff that combine reliable, continuous site-wide communications with the safety features of a dedicated personal alarm.

Automatic monitoring system

Many special needs providers like to give residents as much independence as possible, including within their own flats. At night it is vital to know that they are safe, but monitoring has to be discreet. In the past, staff needed to watch constantly – in some centres, one member of staff was required for every two flats.

“The spending cuts, and consequent need to make economies without compromising security, were the driving force that led us to seek an alternative monitoring system”, an ICT services coordinator at the organisation explains. “The technology CST suggested provided exactly what was required – a way to reduce staffing costs while maintaining residents’ safety.”

CST’s system uses motion sensors that send alerts to pagers worn by staff, telling them if there is any movement in the flat or if the resident leaves. “In trials the system has proved itself to be very effective. We could cut the number of staff required for monitoring by one third. Luckily we won’t need redundancies, natural staff turnover means we’ll simply not replace staff who leave during the period the system rolls out.”

The monitoring system is based on Call System Technology’s Genesis communications software, which logs all activity. This means managers can check each resident’s movements overnight and see how quickly alerts were answered.

Two-way radio

The patchy coverage and poor sound quality of the old radio system was causing concern, especially with, for example, lone worker safety.

“We’ve used radios for a while for use radios for staff communication,” explains the ICT Service Co-ordinator. “Of course we already have a phone system, too, but radio gives flexibility: it doesn’t matter where the person is on site, as long as they have their radio you can reach them. And if you need to broadcast an emergency message to everyone, it’s easy.”

“The CST radio system gives us superb coverage and crystal clear sound. Plus it permits multiple conversations: staff can communicate one-to-one, if they need to, or broadcast to all. And if someone else is broadcasting, they don’t have to wait for them to stop before they can talk – which is a significant safety advantage.”

The new handsets also feature several personal safety features for lone workers and others at risk. The units’ alarm button opens a channel that all other handsets can hear. If the user can’t talk, the handset sends a text alert detailing who needs assistance.

Meanwhile an automatic periodic check feature means that staff have to respond to an alert every ten minutes – pushing the button on the handset confirms they are safe. If staff members don’t cancel the alert, it is automatically escalated.

Joined-up communications

“Another potential benefit of these two systems is that they can be integrated into one: the motion sensors can send their alerts to the radio handsets rather than a separate pager,” explains Bruce McNair, sales and operations director of Call Systems Technology. “These systems are designed to be flexible, so that they can offer a single solution to a variety of different issues.”

AlarmCall

The new AlarmCall system is the brainchild of Alan Beecham, a senior officer with the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and the Service's Fire Alarm Coordinator. Alan wanted to find a way that large stores such as ASDA could be certain that, when the alarm was sounded, it was a true emergency and not a false alarm.

Alan Beecham describes the trial's results as 'fantastic'. "The beauty of this system is that it adds to public safety because it delivers and instant response to a fire alarm. We aim for arrival to an alarm within ten minutes, but with this system there is a trained fire team investigating instantly.

"There has been a 90% reduction in false alarms during the trial period compared to the same period last year."

Whittington Hospital, London

In the four+ years since the Whittington Hospital, North London opened, its new Imaging Department (in 2007) its throughput has increased from 96,000 patients per year to 150,000 – without expanding the environment!
Partly this is owed to increased efficiency, greatly assisted by the 60 MediCall™ ‘patient pagers’ supplied by Call Systems Technology that enable the reception team to save two hours 20 minutes of walking each day!

“My team saves 140 minutes every day by remaining at or near the reception desk instead of walking the corridors with patients”, says Recep Suleyman, hospital’s imaging services manager.
“And the waiting area is more pleasant for the patients and reception staff because we have no loud announcements. There is no need to call out to anyone, or use speakers, since the patients carry pagers by which they can be contacted“.

The staff like the system too as they can see that it makes the patients happier and improves their working environment.
With 10 X-Ray rooms and additional high-technology scanning rooms, the hospital’s imaging services manager, Recep Suleyman, visualised how he could achieve maximum patient throughput. This needed a highly efficient way of using each facility and minimising idle time between X-rays or scans.

To achieve this, he wanted each room to be served by two separate dressing/changing rooms so that patients could flow almost continuously through into the scanning systems! As each patient leaves after dressing, the next waiting outpatient is paged to walk to the area and enters the empty changing room, so that he or she can enter the scanner room immediately it becomes free.

A system of patient pagers distributed to patients at the reception desk, and clear signposting throughout the third floor imaging facility, is the solution. Patients arriving at the reception do not even have to sit for long in the pleasant and airy waiting area.

Handed a pager on arrival, they can walk about, visit the shop or cafe, and yet still attend their appointments at the appointed times. The pagers and the direction signs enable patients able to make their own way from the entrance to the appropriate scanning facility to do so alone. No staff member needs to accompany them or to direct them. The patient simply hands back the pager when he or she arrives at the localised desk for the room s/he is directed to attend.

"It has improves productivity by allowing clinical staff to call patients without spending time between the imaging and waiting rooms. And our patients don’t have to wait for long periods in waiting areas," says Recep Suleyman, "which could cause causes stress and discomfort. Our MediCall system gives outpatients and their companions freedom. They can visit the cafeteria, shops or any other hospital facility - and we can contact them when we need them."

The MediCall pagers include three alerts, bleep, flashing light and vibration, assisting with common disability issues. The latest MediCall pagers have added features, anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties that kills common germs, and recorded voice messages, which may be beneficial to other outpatient departments needing to rationalise their waiting areas and reduce queuing while increasing staff efficiency.

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Case Studies

16 June 2011

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