Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has observed significant improvements in scheduling processes and administrative workload since the adoption of the NHS Federated Data Platform (NHS FDP).
Like many NHS hospitals, before the introduction of the NHS FDP, staff at the southwest London trust faced huge numbers of emails and out of date excel spreadsheets when trying to find the information they needed to organise surgical theatre schedules.
In April 2023, Kingston adopted the NHS FDP and began using the Inpatients Care Coordination Solution (Inpatients CCS) product to make it easier for theatre and booking teams to see all the information they need in one place.
The tool pulls together data from multiple trust systems into one place, allowing admin and theatre staff to see all the information they need without having to log into other systems or do manual data entry – saving hours of staff time every week.
Alongside improvements to trust source systems and improved ways of working, use of the NHS FDP is supporting Kingston to maintain its surgical theatre processes.
Robyn Hollins, Transformation and Adoption Lead at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “At Kingston we are finding the NHS Federated Data Platform incredibly useful to support our teams organise and schedule our surgical theatres – helping us use every available slot so our patients are seen faster.
“As with adoption of any new tools we’ve had hurdles to overcome, for others looking to adopt these great products I’d strongly recommend engaging with all the right teams as early as possible to avoid any unnecessary delays or challenges later on.”
Inpatients CCS also includes a feature to identify any data anomalies or discrepancies in waiting lists. At Kingston use of this feature has led to reductions in waiting lists for Gynaecology and Urology – ensuring only those patients who actively need appointments are prioritised.
Theresa Kirkham, General Manager at Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Whilst the trust is pleased with results so far, more work is planned to drive even more benefits from the system. With theatre booking tackled, the trust plans to improve the quality of the cases that are being booked to really reduce those short notice, on the day cancellations.”
Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is now looking to other NHS Federated Data Platform products that could support it further.
Publication reference: PRN01464vi