Case Study
The Royal Hospital of Neurodisability
The Royal Hospital of Neurodisability (RHN) is a national charity hospital and reserch centre that provides rehabilitation and long term care to people with complex neurological disabilites caused by damage to the brain or other parts of the nervous system.
Based in Putney, south west London, it has beds for around 220 patients and includes the provision of specialist services on bespoke wards, including a ventilator unit, wards for Huntington's Disease, and a behavioral unit.
"I spend less time chasing staff for updates, clarifying prescriptions, re-writing drug charts - it releases time to care for our patients."
A Representative at The Royal Hospital of Neurodisability
The Royal Hospital for Neuro Disability project and ongoing strategic partnership is a prime example of what can be achieved when you have an ideal fusion of ambitious, motivated, skilled and enthusiastic clients with a modern, flexible and agile digital health solution.
With only 126 working days to go from the point of first contact, 3rd of October 2018 to the Go Live on the 1st of April 2019.
From the actual project commencement on the 3rd of Jan PatientSource required only 63 working days to Go Live, in that time we managed to achieve:
An integration to the incumbent PAS
Built a formulary from scratch
Trained 129 Nurses, 9 Doctors, 2 Pharmacists and 3 super users
Took an organisation with high dependency patients from paper to complex ePrescribing
83% reduction in prescribing errors
Before PatientSource, RHN relied on a paper-based system, with patients having multiple separate folders for different aspects of care, including therapies, medications, and observations. This approach was prone to confusion and inefficiencies, especially for long-term care and therapy patients, leading to safety concerns.
Medication Errors and PatientSource Introduction:One key issue PatientSource aimed to address was medication errors. Previously, the hospital used an A3 multi-fold medication administration record (MAR) chart, which was prone to inaccuracies. The introduction of PatientSource allowed for better tracking of medications and helped identify areas for improvement and training needs.
Gradual Implementation Approach:RHN adopted a gradual approach to the PatientSource implementation. They began with the wards that had the most complex medication regimens, slowly building trust with the system. The phased approach helped mitigate the challenges posed by past failed EPR implementations and enabled a smoother transition.
Transition to Digital Records:Over time, RHN fully transitioned from paper to digital records. Medications were moved from paper folders to the PatientSource system, and the hospital adopted off-the-shelf equipment like iPads, small laptops, and desktops. This kept costs low and ensured that the system was easily accessible to clinicians.
Brain injury shatters lives, what PatientSource does is helps put them back together”
PatientSource understood us, and we understood them; we were as important to them as they were to us – and that made for the perfect partnership
