East and North Hertfordshire NHS Belief has confirmed that it plans substitute its bleeps system for medical workers with the messaging app Alertive earlier than the tip of 2024.
In an replace on the belief’s digital technique and roadmap, the agenda for the belief’s board assembly on 1 Could 2024, says: “A brand new smartphone messaging app will substitute all of the bleeps within the belief within the coming months”.
A spokesperson for East and North Hertfordshire informed Digital Well being Information that the bleeps system shall be changed with the app Alertive, which is designed for healthcare professionals.
Mark Stanton, chief info officer at East and North Hertfordshire, mentioned in an announcement offered to Digital Well being Information: “Clinicians have used bleeps to speak with one another for the reason that Fifties – working in a really comparable method to a pager.
“Whereas this was once a extremely efficient method to alert a clinician about an emergency problem, expertise has developed considerably in recent times.”
He added: “Utilizing Alertive, customers will be capable to ship pressing notifications to their colleagues after they want assist, enabling them to immediately present extra details about a affected person’s situation than is at present doable via a bleep.
“We anticipate Alertive to enhance communication between workers by offering a clearer and extra concise messaging service for groups and departments throughout the belief, supporting extra collaborative and aligned affected person care.”
Based on an announcement on the Alertive web site, 24.4% of bleeps interrupt a important medical job and till the bleep has been answered the recipient doesn’t know who’s contacting them or what it’s relating to.
The Alertive app’s a number of communication modes, together with important alerts, messaging, the sharing of duties and the usage of attachments are designed to offer clearer visibility of priorities and improved communication between workers.
Somerset NHS Basis Belief launched an out-of-hours undertaking in 2021 and launched a hospital job administration answer from Infinity Well being, enabling it to scale back its night-time, non-emergency bleeps by greater than 13,400 a yr.