With each month the NHS waiting list remains at an incredible high, patients anxiously face long waiting times for treatment. As of November 2023, only 58% of people were being treated within 18 weeks of referral – some way off the NHS’ standard that this should be 92% of patients. So, how do hospitals and the NHS even begin to get closer to this target?
To tackle patient waiting times, the healthcare system must strategise around the root cause of the issue. Long waits in the patient journey are not a resource problem; they are a flow issue. Therefore, methods that can improve patient and workflow across a hospital through efficiency and optimisation are necessary.
Reverse Bed Chain is a strategy that is fast growing as a solution to inefficient patient flow. Its central function is to change patient movement from a ‘pull’ to a ‘push’ process, grouping patient moves as a ‘single task’ and synchronising journeys to create continuous flow. Key to this approach is also the ability to allocate staff and equipment in the most optimal way.
If adopted widely, Reverse Bed Chain could transform the patient experience within the NHS – here are four ways it can do this.
1. It improves patient flow
Throughout the patient journey, there are a series of ‘pull’ movements that take them through each ward, from when they enter the Emergency Department (ED) to the assessment ward to the base ward and, finally, to the discharge lounge. During this process, the discharge of one patient triggers a pull through each ward of the next patient.
However, traditional movement approaches can be inefficient and lead to delays. Often, logistics staff have to move patients individually, working their way back across the hospital to move each patient to the relevant ward.
A ‘push’ process, on the other hand, optimises efficiency by moving multiple patients in a single group. This helps to save time and reduce the ED backlog, thereby creating more capacity. However, the movement of multiple patients at the same time to relevant locations is a complex statistical process with many variables.
It is possible to map it out on paper or spreadsheets. But this is a slower process, prone to human error. Technology like an intelligence workforce platform can deliver a robust and reliable push process. Not only can it display the priority order in which a group needs to be moved, but this group is then assigned to a porter based on their real-time location in the building.
By efficiently moving patients from ‘start to finish’, Reverse Bed Chain directly reduces patient waiting times. But the movement of patients is just one part of the process.
2. It optimises capacity
As well as patients, Reverse Bed Chain also streamlines the movement of staff, information and equipment between departments and settings – an intelligence workforce platform, delivered via an app, uses real-time location services (RTLS) to improve flow and work experience for all staff.
For example, the app enables the smart assignment of responsibilities based on the location of people and equipment physically closest to relevant locations. So, as patients are moved, so too are staff, information and equipment. This creates a continuous flow of patients and optimises the allocation of staff and resources, with the result reducing delays in the patient chain, easing staff workloads and, ultimately, improving overall capacity for patient care.
This approach has been tried and tested, working within a five-hospital system managing nearly 700,000 people. By employing Reverse Bed Chain, the system was able to customise operational processes and oversee group training in line with each department’s individual needs. Tasks were quickly and efficiently assigned to staff (in priority order), handled and completed.
The overall result saw response times improved by almost 30%, which consequently shortened patient stays.
3. It transforms overall efficiency
This process delivers a holistic enhancement of patient flow, staff flow and overall operations. By bringing together every aspect of the patient flow experience, hospitals are seeing real-world improvements in overall efficiency and the optimal delegation of resources.
It has worked within a 760-bed hospital that adopted indoor location technology to improve movement efficiency. The AI-led platform allowed them to better align resources to demand and, as a result, gain additional resources by using this data as evidence for stakeholders. Now, the platform can inform data-driven decision-making for management and create daily improvements by guiding practice changes across departments.
In another example, by using smartphone sensors and AI-powered scheduling, a 23-hospital healthcare system could schedule tasks throughout the day, disperse information to multiple help desks, and allow staff to use their phones to report any equipment shortages, faulty equipment, or an increase in wait times.
The holistic restructuring of patient flow can improve satisfaction for every clinician, staff member and patient.
4. It empowers clinical staff to drive the process, improving patient care and satisfaction
The surge in treatment waiting times is adding uncharted levels of stress on staff. In particular, this strain is being felt by the nurses who are on the front line. Reverse Bed Chain gives agency to these staff by giving them the time and space to provide compassionate and quality care to patients. Clinical staff can focus their efforts on patient care while other team members are distributed to departments where they are most suited and are needed at that moment in time.
As well as providing this immediate benefit, this approach also has the potential to tackle longer-term workforce issues. It can improve overall job satisfaction by easing workloads and allowing nurses to prioritise the essential work they want to do. More time for patient care means a better patient experience.
Reverse bed chain transforming the patient experience
With an election due this year, reducing the NHS waiting list is sure to be a battleground strongly fought over by politicians. However, the healthcare system is in no position to wait for broader policy changes to take effect. Reverse Bed Chain is a revolutionary strategy that has the potential to transform the entire patient experience within the NHS.
Using innovative intelligent workforce technology, hospitals can synchronise patient movements and, through RTLS, optimise the deployment of staff, equipment and task allocation. This reduces the ED backlog, improves operational efficiency and achieves a continuous flow of patients, staff and resources that prioritises patient care and staff wellbeing.
With Reverse Bed Chain, being the right person in the right place at the right time is not left to chance.
By Connie Moser, CEO, Navenio
