Trust appoints UK based Video Collaboration Specialist to design & deploy a much simplified solution to improve patient care & reduce unnecessary costs
February 4, 2016, UK – Brighton & Sussex University Hospital NHS Trust has upgraded its ageing Video Collaboration technology across MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) meeting rooms within the Princess Royal Hospital and Royal Sussex County Hospital, after a strategic review of solutions in place showed over-complicated and costly technology was not achieving the efficiency gains expected.
The solutions were originally deployed to speed up discussions and decision making for situations where the patient care plan is of critical importance, and to reduce travel between sites for in demand specialists. However the complex deployment and mixed room technology resulted in clinicians finding the equipment too difficult to use, resulting in low user adoption and low return on investment.
With a deficit forecast of £37.7 million at the BSUH NHS Trust, the hospital’s IT department is implementing new strategies to assist with balancing the books as it deals with rising demand from patients and staff shortages.
The Trust brought on board UK Video Conferencing Specialist VideoCentric in 2015, to consult, design, deploy and support a simplified and modernised collaboration solution for the MDT rooms, that could greatly improve usage whilst meet expectations from today’s healthcare workforce and patients.
“We began by looking at the current technology and the issues the trust were reporting. We were very surprised at the sheer number of components that had originally been deployed in these meeting spaces, and wanted to ensure that any solution to be implemented would ultimately reduce expenditure, not add to it,” commented Ashley Thornley-Davies, Solutions Manager for Healthcare at VideoCentric.
“Our overall focus was simplicity for users, ease of integration with current platforms such as Skype for Business, and simple connectivity for external medical devices such as PACS machines, to enable the sharing of images with those in the MDT room and at remote sites. We needed to ensure that the trust got absolute value for money for every penny spent, whilst ensuring patient safety and care was at the forefront of our decisions.”
The new solution includes Lifesize Video Conferencing endpoints and access to multipoint conferencing and mobile applications via virtualised infrastructure securely situated within the trust’s own Data Centre. Complex touch panels were also removed and now all technology within the room is turned on or off via a single switch.
Remote consultants can now join an MDT meeting wherever they are located, removing distance barriers and enabling clinical decisions to be made in much shorter timescales.
Iain Kelly, Senior IT Project Manager, NHS BSUH commented, “Our complex Video Conferencing technology has been replaced by modern, simplified Collaboration tools, enabling our teams to gain the benefits of Video Communications without the inefficiencies we experienced previously. VideoCentric took the time to understand our needs and provide a solution that was much more cost efficient and more simple to use for our clinicians. VideoCentric’s technical team have supported us throughout the project and continue to provide a high quality and personal service to ensure we get the most out of our investment, now and into the future.”
About VideoCentric
Award-winning, fully accredited and independent, VideoCentric is one of the UK’s leading end-to-end solutions integrator of world class professional video conferencing, telepresence and video collaboration solutions.
With over 15 years of experience providing video conferencing & collaboration solutions into the NHS & healthcare sector, VideoCentric can design, supply and install on-premise, private, managed, cloud & hybrid video based solutions for hospitals & healthcare providers, throughout the UK, understanding the needs and outcomes required to make your investment a success.
VideoCentric holds Cisco PSPP for Healthcare status, and is the UK’s only Lifesize Gold Partner and SMART Gold Partner, with focus in the healthcare sector. VideoCentric supports secure networking solutions & cost saving technologies into over 50 NHS trusts across the UK, including highly secure healthcare units, locked down networks and Mental Health Trusts.
