Wandsworth Electrical

Wandsworth is supplying all 3,700 units for the installation and, in addition to providing the innovative hardware, the UK-based company has also developed bespoke software which will allow simple-to-use entertainment systems for patients along with secure additional functionality for medical staff. Explains technical director at Wandsworth, Colin Plimmer: "This deal follows a full trial of the TeleCall system in South Australia which has seen our system compare favourably with others on the market to win the contract. While Telecall has been available internationally for some time, this is the first Australian state to specify the system across all its hospitals and the fact that a system developed in the UK and manufactured by a British company has won such a major deal against global competition indicates just how cutting edge our technology is." The TeleCall bedside touchscreen units will provide patients with both free to air and premium TV channels along with radio, internet access, video on demand and telephone facilities. Medical staff will be able to convert the same unit to a secure bedside computing device by inserting a smart card, allowing them to access patient records, x-rays and other applications on the hospital's computer networks. Effectively, with the use of the smart card, the screen will offer all the functionality of the doctor's office or nurse's station desktop computer at the bedside. In addition to multi-faceted functionality, the Telecall system has been designed to address concerns about infection control. The ergonomic design has been created to prevent dust and other contaminants from becoming trapped in the hardware and to allow easy cleaning. Meanwhile, the touchscreen itself has been manufactured using anti-bacterial materials to inhibit bacterial growth and the touchscreen functionality remains fully operational even when the user navigates using a stylus, a pen or while wearing latex gloves. Comments David Johnston, Chief Information Officer at the South Australian Health Department: "The Wandsworth Telecall system provides significant potential for standardising and improving clinical work practices across the whole health system, as it means there will be a clinical workstation at every bed. "Clinicians and health care professionals will have direct access to essential clinical applications at the patient's bedside, which will ultimately include nursing information and diagnostic test results. "It will improve patient safety by supporting the provision of safer, more effective and more responsive care to patients," he continues. "For example, clinicians will be able to place medication and medical test orders directly from the bedside, thereby reducing the risk of errors that can occur with the traditional manual approach. The touch-screen technology will also enable increased interaction between clinicians and patients, as clinicians will be able to show the patient relevant and appropriate health information, such as x-rays, on-screen at the patient's bedside." Wandsworth is currently in the process of delivering the hardware for the project and the staged installation is scheduled to begin at Lyell McEwin Hospital, with deployment commencing from Q3 2011.