Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust (BHRUT) serves around 800,000 people in outer North East London and Essex, operating from Queen's Hospital in Romford and King George Hospital in Goodmayes with approximately 900 beds. Guided by their PRIDE values (Passion, Responsibility, Innovation, Drive, and Empowerment), BHRUT is dedicated to providing outstanding healthcare and has implemented initiatives like Microsoft Project for the web / Planner to manage clinical safety assessments more efficiently. The trust also celebrates staff contributions and engages in activities to enhance patient experience, such as Play in Healthcare Week and SAS Week.
Play in Healthcare Week is an event that focuses on the importance of play in paediatric recovery, creating a joyful environment for young patients.
SAS Week recognises the crucial role of Specialty and Associate Specialist (SAS) doctors, boosting their morale and fostering a sense of appreciation.
These initiatives contribute to a positive work environment, enhance staff engagement, and improve patient care and satisfaction.
Overcoming Clinical Safety Management Hurdles at BHRUT
When Dione Rogers, Deputy Chief Nurse and Chief Nurse Informatics Officer, joined the trust almost 3 years ago, there was no clinical safety team, no hazard logs, and no clinical safety case reports. Manual processes were developed and deployed, but they relied heavily on spreadsheets and emails, leading to inefficiencies and strained relationships with business partners. As Dione Rogers explained, "Cases were taking a long time and a lot of what was holding us up was explaining where we were in the process of signing off documents”.
Implementing a Centralised Project Management System at BHRUT
Whilst the clinical safety team did already have a system to manage their Clinical Safety Management processes and hazard logs, the process was manual and took a lot of effort to keep on top of. To address these challenges, BHRUT collaborated with CPS and Microsoft to implement Microsoft Project for the web (now rebranded under Planner). The trust have adoped this solution under the acronym of DASH; Digital Assistant for Safe Healthcare. . This solution was chosen for its compatibility with existing NHS tools like Teams and Outlook, and its ability to provide a centralised platform for project management and delivery, specifically to manage the process around digital clinical safety assessments. Dione Rogers noted, "We decided that a project using [Planner] would be probably the best fit".
Andy Carter from CPS added, The benefit with a solution such as the new Planner is it can be customised and tailored to particular needs, which is exactly what we did for BHRUT: we built DASH specifically tailored around digital clinical safety management.
Achieving Remarkable Outcomes with DASH at BHRUT
The implementation of Microsoft Project for the web / Planner anticipates several benefits for BHRUT:
- Improved Communication: DASH provided open and transparent tracking of not just the project, but its approvals, progression and supporting documentation, reducing the reliance on emails and improving team relationships. "Anything that can improve communication and relationships in the team, knowing where they can look in one place for that information was the primary reason," said Dione Rogers. DASH also provides a single area for people to see what they’re working on, and the current status of any clinical safety assessment.
- Resource Management: DASH helped in better allocation of roles and resources, linking with Outlook calendars to manage availability. "We can start to see what resources are available to pick up work," mentioned Dione.
- Prioritisation and Analytics: The introduction of a criteria matrix for prioritising projects and the use of data analytics to learn from DASH's data were significant improvements. "We're testing a scoring system to demonstrate and ensure transparency about project prioritisation. This is a new concept for us. Additionally, we're focusing on data and analytics to continuously improve. We aim to identify common hazards and streamline processes, ensuring we focus on the right tasks. I'm very data-driven, so learning and improvement using the system are crucial." stated Dione.
It’s early days in the embedding of the new toolset, but the qualitative feedback from BHRUT staff highlights the positive impact of DASH. Rosalia Padron Pol, Digital Clinical Safety Officer, emphasised the importance of visibility and resource allocation, making it a key request in the new tool.
The customer experience has been overwhelmingly positive. Dione Rogers praised the collaborative approach taken by CPS and Microsoft, saying, "This experience where we were able to articulate the problem we were trying to solve and actually have people understand that and be able to co-build DASH with us was amazing".
Rosalia Padron Pol also appreciated the personalised support, noting, "It was definitely a very personal one-to-one thing, so I don't think I would have gotten that from any other systems we were considering".
Transform Your Clinical Safety Management with CPS and Microsoft
If your organisation is facing similar challenges in managing clinical safety or other complex projects, consider partnering with CPS and Microsoft to implement a tailored solution that meets your needs.
DASH, now available as an accelerator from CPS, enables NHS organisations to swiftly implement the BHRUT approach. The Clinical Safety accelerator strengthens or builds upon current processes, offering pre-configured tracked and documented approvals, quick-start reporting, control log tracking, hazard and incident management, request management, and prioritisation.
Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you manage digital clinical safety, or any other type of work in your organisation.