Improving care co-ordination Scaling innovation across a whole hospital Founder and CEO of Medic Creations Dr Sandeep Bansal shares what makes a great partnership and how it is critical to successfully scale-up an innovation Medic Bleep is an app, developed by Medic Creations, that enables hospital and community staff to communicate and collaborate within and across organisations, sharing vital information about patients accurately and safely. After a successful pilot at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, which was supported by Eastern AHSN, Medic Bleep was rolled out across the hospital to replace the non-emergency pager, as some pagers are still required for emergencies such as cardiac arrest. Shared aims and values At the centre of a good partnership is establishing your shared aims for the project and what success looks like for all parties. With the help of Eastern AHSN, we wanted to help the Trust build on the pilot and provide staff with a tool that could help free up time and improve care. Ultimately, clinical safety was our biggest priority. West Suffolk Hospital is a Global Digital Exemplar Trust, recognised by NHS England as a provider delivering improvements in the quality of care through the world-class use of digital technologies and information Im really grateful to Eastern AHSN for brokering a successful partnership with the Trust that has benefitted all parties, with patients at the heart of it. an ideal partner for the first whole-trust rollout of Medic Bleep. Change is everyones responsibility We couldnt have embedded Medic Bleep across the hospital without each partner being fully engaged. We worked with Eastern AHSN and staff at the Trust to understand how our solution fitted into the clinical pathways and governance processes and ran workshops with staff to understand and answer any questions. The Topol Review highlighted digital literacy as one of the NHSs biggest challenges, so we worked with the Trust to tailor training and support to help improve staffs digital literacy and confidence levels. We also established and utilised buy-in from the Trusts leadership team, who freed up staff time to support the project and upgraded IT to the levels needed across the hospital. Eastern AHSN supported with the development of the logic model and evaluation, while all partners collaborated to understand the resource requirements, standard operating procedures and business continuity implications of embedding Medic Bleep. Medic Bleep adoption 4,250 users in Medic Bleep Sujolk NHS7,500 West On average, adoption by Foundation Trust: messages sent each week day WestSujolk 4,250 users NHSsent Foundation each week day 1.5 hours On average, hours of calls per1.5day Trust of calls per day A long-term partnership The project didnt end when Medic Bleep went live. We are always improving our product and West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust remains a key development partner. For example, we are now working with the Trust to explore how we can use the app with clinicians in primary and community care to cover more of the patient journey. We are also in conversation with NHSX about developing a framework for trusts to On average, 7,500 messages On average, procure Medic Bleep and have agreed a partnership with BT to include the app in their smart messaging offering to trusts across the country. Being shortlisted for the HSJ Partnership Awards was fantastic. Im really grateful to Eastern AHSN for brokering a successful partnership with the Trust that has benefitted all parties, with patients at the heart of it. It has provided blueprints, both for us to use with Medic Bleep at other sites and for the Trust when rolling out future digital solutions. Share this article Impact story Find out more about the Medic Bleep pilot at EasternAHSN.org