How SPARK Fusion® Can Offer NHS Support

When it comes to providing the best possible service for patients, staff welfare should never be overlooked.

While working in healthcare undoubtedly has its rewards, it should also be understood that it can often be challenging for employees across all departments, particularly during pressure. 

The promising news is that with new funding commitments from the new government, Trusts are in a strong position to assess how they can make operational improvements that will provide long-term benefits for staff. 

We confidently believe many aspects of NHS operations can be improved by implementing SPARK Fusion®. Here, we’re going to explore the potential benefits it can bring for employees and the service as a whole. 

Seamless software to cope with surges in service demand 

Let’s begin at the start of the patient treatment cycle. Surges in demand caused by somewhat expected outcomes like seasonal illness, or less expectedly, events like a pandemic at the other end of the spectrum, put severe pressure on the triage process. 

Traditional, outdated processes often lead to longer waiting times for critical care, filling up waiting rooms and causing additional NHS backlog stress for frontline staff. 

Processing patients through the system is often a case of efficiently handling data. SPARK Fusion® integrates with existing clinical apps and things like health records so that staff can have a conversation at the bedside with the patient about their condition. The patient can also access information in a transparent manner about their specific condition in a transparent manner. 

This empowers staff to process new patient intakes easier while responsibly discharging those at the end of their treatment. With a single bedside unit (iPad) allocated to each patient upon arrival for the duration of their stay, the processing of their medical information is seamless and instantly accessible to staff who would otherwise rely on outdated methods that drain time and money.  

In other words, this improves the patient flow when demand is high and resources are stretched to capacity. 

A measure for morale: Supporting overworked staff

One of the tragic consequences of surging demand managed poorly is staff morale. 

Employees can only do what they can with the tools and resources available to help them do their jobs effectively. When staff begin to lose faith in these things, it can have a devastating effect on Trusts and the patients they look after. 

This is especially heightened when the NHS is stretched with staff shortages, a high workload and pressures to maintain high-quality patient care. In fact, research by The King's Fund shows that NHS staff are 50% more likely to experience chronic stress, a known contributor to burnout. 

According to the British Medical Journal (BMJ), burnout significantly impacts the retention of our highly valued NHS workforce, with more staff considering leaving the NHS than ever before.

We believe that from an operational perspective, at the very least, SPARK Fusion® will be a powerful burnout deterrent for staff, with several benefits that can ease their responsibilities in challenging periods. 

As discussed above, the transformational digital capabilities of SPARK Fusion® at triage, discharge and throughout the patient treatment cycle are massively valuable for employees. 

Beyond the ease of patient processing, staff arguably have to worry less about ensuring patients are always kept informed and entertained, thanks to the instant accessibility and entertainment features included with every bedside unit. 

SPARK Fusion® empowers staff and patients with enhanced technology to support patient welfare and wellbeing. 

Plugging the drains in critical NHS resources 

Wastage is one key contributor to declining staff morale and efficiency. SPARK Fusion® tackles this issue head-on. 

Saving time

The last thing that staff need at periods when they’re under pressure is adhering to responsibilities that waste time that could be more effectively spent. 

An alarming 20% of NHS and social care managers would argue that their time is wasted with more than 20 hours per week on bureaucracy. 

Given the things we’ve already discussed above, it’s fair to say that SPARK Fusion® makes many key processes more seamless for staff, freeing them up to spend more time ensuring a better quality of care thanks to simpler, more informed bedside interactions made possible by accessible information and efficient software. 

Saving money 

This is more of a benefit for Trusts as a whole than for individual staff.

The problem with outdated systems and monitoring is that they haemorrhage financial resources. There are many different types of financial leakage in the NHS, but one of the key issues associated with individual patient care is meal wastage. 

It’s estimated that up to 18% of hospital food may be wasted (equivalent to one in every six meals wasted) every year. That’s also equivalent to around 0.5 kilograms of food waste produced per patient per week, demonstrating the scale at which financial expenditures are also being wasted. 

Thanks to a more seamless and integrated meal ordering service delivered via the SPARK Fusion® bedside units, however, meals are allocated to patients, not to beds, so no meals are wasted if patients move or are discharged before meal times.

Making individual staff-to-patient care more tailored and efficient

Those on-demand services also pay dividends for one-on-one care. Key SPARK Fusion® features like integrations with nurse call, HL7 and other clinical applications are enhanced by bedside access to patient medical information once a staff member engages with the patient at hand. 

This makes each and every employee-patient interaction better informed and, therefore, more efficient. 

Plus, other features like room control afford patients better control of their surroundings, be that room temperature or lighting, for instance. With more empowerment and increased autonomy over simple functionalities that can improve their comfort and wellbeing, patients are less likely to lean on staff resources. 

Reducing bed blocking and readmission 

These are two fundamental issues facing the NHS as our ageing population continues to boom and Trusts continue to rely on the same outdated processes for triage and discharge, as discussed above. Bed occupancy has significant implications for the staff experience as a whole. 

However, bed blocking and readmission are also symptoms of lower quality of care throughout the treatment. Quality that can be improved with many of the SPARK Fusion® features we’ve already highlighted. 

When patients are better informed, better entertained and better engaged with friends and family throughout the duration of their stay, their treatment is far more likely to be successful — with far less likelihood of readmission. 

Furthermore, if staff are empowered with better technology to discharge and admit patients more efficiently, bed blocking becomes far less of a problem for Trusts. 

Setting staff up for success against seasonal challenges 

With winter upon us, there’s no doubt staff will have plenty of challenges to face over the coming months. 

Help them face them with the confidence and reassurance SPARK Fusion® can provide. Our latest eBook: Five ways to reduce winter pressures on the NHS is a great starting point for exploring how to leverage the power SPARK Fusion® in healthcare operations.