SPARK TSL® Acquires Hospedia With Plans to Modernise Bedside Terminals

A brief history of Hospedia bedside units

Over 20 years ago, Patientline invested £150,000,000 worth of infrastructure for the NHS. This equated to the installation of 56,500 bedside units across 160 hospitals. Making them the key supplier of bedside terminals to 75% of the UK's acute hospitals.

Patientline were one of three companies to be awarded a national license to provide bedside entertainment and communications systems (BECS) through the government's Patient Power Initiative in 2000.

This mandated that all major NHS hospitals should provide the personal BECS for patients by 2004. Trusts and health boards were not required to cover the costs of the bedside units as per the initial contracts with Patientline, which resulted in patients having to pay for their usage. This patient pays model still stands today to keep the services running, but this model needs to change.

"The concept of patients paying to watch TV in the hospital seems unfair. We are turning this model around to provide a better system."  - Matt O'Donovan, Group Leader of SPARK TSL

⚡ 1994 - Patientline was founded.

⚡ 2008 - Hospedia acquired Patientline.

⚡ 2021 - WiFi SPARK acquired Hospedia.

⚡ 2023 - WiFi SPARK and Hospedia rebrand to SPARK TSL. 

WiFi SPARK/SPARK TSL is a leading provider of commercial WiFi and media services to healthcare, retail, transport, sport and exhibition space sectors. We already work with nearly 300 hospitals across more than 80 NHS Trusts and health boards in the UK and provide 24/7/365 support to customers. 

The future of Hospedia under SPARK TSL

As technology continues to advance, these 50,000+ bedside units are gradually becoming obsolete and outdated. Today, they resemble a basic service, rather than the premium experience patients should receive.

 Trusts with the existing Bedside Units have three main options:

• Cover the cost of TV services on the Bedside Units. (Approximately £1 per bed, per day)
• Work with SPARK TSL to build out resources, surveys and links on the Bedside Units and encourage their use through Marketing materials.
• Upgrade to SPARK Fusion® - This new solution provides a managed tablet solution with iPads at the bedside (or similar technology). They can function as bedside units, either physically mounted in a locked down case, or resting on a plate. This solution is focused on patient engagement, elevating pressures on staff through HL7 integration with existing healthcare systems and saving Trusts money.

Investing in providing free TV for patients and building out resources on the existing Hospedia Bedside Units is a short term solution to help improve the patient experience at the bedside. The future really lies with SPARK Fusion®. 

What benefits will SPARK Fusion® bring?

Enhanced Patient Experience: Our SPARK Fusion® solution is specifically designed to replace or upgrade the Hospedia Units. SPARK Fusion® delivers a clinically integrated and interactive experience that goes beyond entertainment. With Electronic Meal Ordering and Smart Nurse Call applications, to name but a few.

Digital Transformation: SPARK Fusion® utilises the existing Hospedia infrastructure installed in your hospital to keep costs down. This enables you to upgrade to next-generation technology. With support from Apple, we can provide an iPad at the bedside for every patient, as well as mobile Trust-provided devices, a solution that Sentean has successfully implemented in 30 hospitals to date.

Cost Savings: The HL7 integration of SPARK Fusion® facilitates smooth connectivity with healthcare systems, allowing for innovative bedside applications that enhance efficiency and reduce costs.

Why did WiFi SPARK acquire Hospedia?

Hospedia has long been a competitor of WiFi SPARK (now SPARK TSL). We provided patients and staff with a complimentary service using their personal devices and internet connectivity. Why would patients pay for entertainment when they have access to it on their own devices?

However, as outdated as the current Bedside Units may be, they hold a sense of familiarity for the elderly population who are less inclined to possess their own smart devices. It is widely acknowledged that the elderly constitute a significant percentage of hospital patients. In fact, 

'People aged 65 and over account for over 40% of hospital admissions, occupy around two-thirds of hospital inpatient beds and are the most frequent users of health and social care services.'  - BGS

Our solution is two fold:

1. BYOD solution with SPARK Media® for staff, visitors and patients yet to be admitted. This is most appropriate in waiting rooms and ED's where useful signposting information can be displayed, along with entertainment resources. 
2. SPARK Fusion® for patients who have been admitted. They can then access features such as their medical records, easy digital meal ordering & smart nurse call, thanks to SPARK Fusion®'s integration functionality. They can also access free entertainment.

This way, we're covering all elements of patient entertainment and engagement. Both companies needed to be aligned so patients could get the best out of both systems and have a better patient experience. 

The bottom line is this, SPARK TSL doesn't want patients to pay for entertainment. Trusts will not invest in a simple 'TV entertainment platform' because there is no ROI. That's why we are presenting a ROI solution with SPARK Fusion® to help tackle bed blocking, decrease staff pressures, reduce food waste, streamline care and more. The entertainment features such as access to live TV, Netflix, the radio, are a nice addition. 

Make patient entertainment free

Of course the other main reason to acquire Hospedia was to change the patient pays model. We initially thought this would be a relatively quick achievement. However, after being apart of Hospedia for over a year and a half, we realise it's going to be harder than we thought. The cost of TV goes towards the maintenance of the units which covers 24/7/365 support, health and safety checks, replacement of parts and the engineers that repair the units.

We would love to remove the patient pays model overnight. But if we did this with no alternative funding, hundreds of thousand of patients wouldn't have access to basic entertainment such as TV.

The bedside units have the capacity to host videos that aid in the discharge process, raise awareness about charitable initiatives, offer links to NHS resources and provide other functionalities. These attributes will contribute to addressing NHS challenges like delayed discharge and readmissions. All while enhancing the overall patient experience.

These features on the bedside units will help provide justification for the Trust and charities to fund the expense of the TV, or consider upgrading to the more contemporary SPARK Fusion®.

Did we capture your interest?

Discover more about SPARK Fusion® and how it can be implemented by reading about the success story in the Netherlands.