Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) has chosen the Perfect Ward mobile solution to help define and implement the Trust’s radical new quality programme. The primary aim is to define a tailored set of evidence-based metrics to transform performance across the entire Maternity Care Pathway.
NNUH has moved from a paper-based auditing system, to measuring quality improvements digitally. The results show the Perfect Ward solution has helped to halve the time needed to perform audits while empowering staff to deliver outstanding maternity care across the pathway.
Yvonne Christley, Deputy Chief Nurse at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust commented, “For us the biggest benefit of using Perfect Ward is its ability to capture everything visually and the tagging functionality is great. At a glance, we can see metrics for every part of the maternity care pathway, by division and across the whole organisation. It gives us rich and vivid data that is simple and easy to interpret. Audits can be now be done in half the time, hugely important when our target for audits is 20 minutes during this critical first phase. We could never have embarked on such an ambitious programme without an effective digital system like Perfect Ward.”
While eliminating the heavy administrative burden associated with auditing and giving staff extra time to look after patients, the transparency of the Perfect Ward mobile solution empowers staff by promoting accountability. Staff have truly engaged with the technology because they see the immediate results of their audits and are keen to share their success stories.
Alan Birch, Chief Commercial Officer at Perfect Ward added, “Our solution is perfectly designed to support bespoke and transformational quality programmes across NHS hospitals and all health and social care environments in these challenging times. Using mobile devices, managers have complete control of their quality metrics on the move, can view the results of live audits as they are completed and make meaningful improvements accordingly. For frontline staff, our technology is a powerful motivational tool making their roles easier, more engaging and helping to unleash their full potential.”
The next step for NNUH is to test the new metrics and gain valuable patient feedback by involving the mothers themselves. December 2020 sees the launch of the Maternity Department’s first Continuity of Care Team with the goal of having one full audit across the entire patient journey. Until now, nurses typically carried out their own individual audits for the mothers in their care. However, the success of the new project has inspired the team to utilise audits as a valuable vehicle for sharing learning and outstanding practice, along with areas that may require improvement.
Professor Nancy Fontaine, Chief Nurse at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust concluded, “Working with Perfect Ward is a pleasure. We benefit from an excellent working relationship and great communication allowing us to adapt our audits as required. I would have no hesitation in advocating Perfect Ward for its ease of use and powerful reporting to other organisations.”
