Our Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is one of the busiest in the country, looking after 2,600 of the South West’s most seriously ill patients every year.
A purpose built 48-bed unit, it has some of the highest trauma survival rates in the country. Every single day, nurses in the unit can enter up to 1,200 data points manually on a paper chart – things like blood pressure or oxygen levels – in such a highly technological environment.
Thanks to an incredibly generous donation, the ICU is now home to a dedicated IT system, the Philip’s IntelliSpace Critical Care & Anaesthesia (ICCA), which has moved the unit away from paper-based recording to capturing key patient data automatically.
The impact on the unit is huge. The ICCA provides immediate, hospital-wide access to current patient data including clinical notes, medication history, images, and laboratory reports. It frees up nursing time so they can spend more time with patients and means that the 200 evidence-based decisions taken each day will be based on these accurate and automated data points.
Among the other benefits, the new system will
Dr Chris Newell, Clinical Lead for the project, said:
“Simply put, this new system is transformational. It provides us with automated, instant, and accurate data on our patients all in one place, helping us to deliver the high-quality care they need, exactly when they need it. It also gives more time to our team, which in a busy environment such as ours, will be invaluable.”
Sarah Harrison, Director of Southmead Hospital Charity, added: The ICCA is a brilliant example of the level of innovation that generous donations make possible in healthcare. We are incredibly grateful to the generous donor who made this transformation possible – it means so much to all of us here at Southmead Hospital.”
