interviews

Tracking technology helps Wolverhampton tackle infection prevention

Clare Nash, the ‘SafeHands’ programme manager at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, talks to NHE about how real-time location software is helping improve compliance with hand washing standards. David Stevenson reports.

An innovative tracking technology deployed at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust has helped improve staff compliance with hand washing standards, as part of the organisation’s overall efforts to tackle healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs).

Through the trust’s unique ‘SafeHands’ programme, real-time location software (RTLS), provided by TeleTracking Technologies, has helped improve patient safety by monitoring staff and patient visits to hand washing stations.

By using infrared and radio-frequency technology, the RTLS system detects electronic badges attached to patients, staff and equipment. This information is then presented to end users in real-time on large touchscreens and computers, allowing infection prevention nurses to view and improve the hand hygiene behaviours of staff.

Clare Nash, a nurse and the ‘SafeHands’ programme manager at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, told NHE: “I think it is definitely playing a part in reducing HCAIs, but I don’t think we can attribute the reduction to this system alone.

“The reason I say that is because we are really good with our infection prevention and control measures already at Wolverhampton. We already have a low infection rate. So I think it will help contribute to keeping this low.”

In 2014, the trust announced that through the use of RTLS, more than one million hand hygiene observations had been recorded, compared to just 600 visual observations made by a person in the same time period.

Nash, who has been working on the design, implementation and evaluation of the system with trust colleagues and TeleTracking for over four years, added that the granularity of the data available can help improve staff behaviour.

“There will be occasions when staff don’t get it [hand washing] right,” she said, “but what this system enables us to do is to give them information to improve. It isn’t about beating people up.

“Nobody comes to work to do a bad job or do the wrong thing or to put a patient or themselves in danger if they haven’t washed their hands. This is a system that supports what staff know they should be doing.”

At the click of a button

In cases of HCAI outbreaks, the RTLS technology can track the role of every badged staff member who comes into contact with an infected patient and sends location and time data back to computer touchscreens in each department.

Prior to this, infection prevention and control nurses used to conduct time-consuming root-cause analyses to understand HCAI outbreaks, but they can now run a report at the click of a button.

Asked about the implementation of the technology, Kevin D’Arcy, ICT programme manager at Wolverhampton, told us: “There were challenges with implementing the hardware side of it [RTLS], but we latched onto an opportunity to install the equipment in patient care areas during the trust’s scheduled ‘deep clean’ programme.

“So, as a ward was emptied, we went in at the same time while it was vacant to install the equipment across the whole of the trust without impacting upon patient welfare and care activity.”

The installation of all the hardware took about six months, but since its launch it has let the trust identify where changes can be made.

Since the RTLS integration, white boards have been replaced by 42-inch computer touchscreens that show everything from equipment, to patients, to staff, on a real-time floor plan graphic.

The system also sends alerts if a patient is not seen for more than an hour, or if a patient is in an isolated area longer than 20 minutes. This allows hospitals to understand the true dependency of patients, allowing staff to focus stretched resources more effectively.

D’Arcy said: “It gives us an opportunity to change behaviour and identify where changes need to be made. It also, uniquely, gives us that information at an individual room and staff level.

“We can look down to individuals and how they’re performing, but we can also take that up to review how we’re doing as an enterprise. The key USP (unique selling point) for this is the power of the information it can give is.”

Nash, who recently received the NHS Innovator of the Year award for the West Midlands region in the NHS Leadership Recognition Awards, said: “As a nurse, patient safety is at the heart of what I do.

“I have been fortunate to work closely with IT partners, notably TeleTracking Technologies, to lead change and improve patient outcomes by using real-time technology – this has been an extremely rewarding journey.”

The system has also brought efficiency gains, with less need for staff to walk around to see if tasks are done, giving care providers more time to spend with patients.

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