Why we need to replace bleeps in hospital
2021 was supposed to be the year that bleeps were phased out across NHS England trusts according to Health Secretary, Matt Hancock, in 2019. But this hasn’t happened and bleeps - also known as pagers - are still widely in use across the NHS.
Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated rapid technological evolution across all healthcare settings, NHS technology leaders called for an ‘urgent’ acceleration on the commitment in a bid to save staff time and boost clinical outcomes in a time of unprecedented strain.
A pre-pandemic study estimated that more than 10% of the world’s bleeps are used by the NHS, meaning that any attempt to phase out the devices is a significant task requiring a complex framework to set the plans in motion.
The problem
The Health Secretary himself describes bleeps as ‘archaic’, ‘outdated’ devices and we know that the multi-step process of bleeping has many elements that make it not fit for use in 21st century hospitals.
Offering just a one-way form of communication, responding to bleeps is time consuming, interruptive, and complicates the prioritisation of tasks. Staff often add information gathered from a phonemail following a bleep to a paper “to-do” list, which can cause multiple issues and safety risks.
Bleeps give limited context about the issue at hand, and have previously been shown to be an unsecure method of communication.
Yet, the NHS’s 130,000 bleeps cost the taxpayer over £6.6 million per year – a significant sum in the era of NHSX and technological applications within healthcare.
So, why are bleeps still in use?
Using bleeps still does have some advantages. In hospitals, where wifi connection can be patchy, the radio waves bleeps use are a reliable alternative. Bleeps have a long battery life - which many smartphones and tablets do not - and using them makes it very difficult for staff to accidentally breach data security protocols.
However, the disadvantages of bleeps are significant and undoubtedly create an extra time burden for staff and patient safety risks that can - and should - be mitigated. In fact, a pilot project which replaced bleeps at West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust in 2017 saved nurses an average of 21 minutes per shift, and junior doctors 48 minutes per shift.
How can we replace bleeps in the NHS?
The Department for Health and Social Care have stated the need for the NHS to use modern alternatives to bleepers, and this is where Infinity Health comes in.
Digital task management platforms like Infinity, have a large part to play in replacing bleeps. Instead of receiving a bleep, rushing to a phone, hoping the person who bleeped you is on the other end to give you information, and then writing their request on a piece of paper, staff can add and assign tasks to a virtual list accessible from anywhere. All the relevant information about the patient and the task is available at staff members’ fingertips, and they can check things off the list for others to see in real-time. Using such technology would give staff back time previously spent chasing up bleeps from their colleagues.
An example of digital task management in action, Infinity Health’s platform has helped porters at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust (LNWH) save more than 10,000 hours each year - a number equivalent to five full-time employees. In the community rapid response team at the same hospital, use of Infinity Health’s platform is saving the department an estimated 7.4 - 8.6 hours of time per day, equivalent to 3,147 hours per year.
Infinity Health’s platform maps progress and updates tasks in real-time, significantly reducing the need for bleeps and making for more efficient communication that releases time back to staff to care for patients.
In finally purging the pager, there is also a role for instant messaging tools, which allow staff to discuss patient cases securely. However, instant messaging often does not provide a solution to the problem of staff still using paper to manage their workload - and all the safety and efficiency risks this has.
Of course, underpinning any moves towards digital solutions to replace pagers in healthcare require infrastructure improvements. A dependable, fast internet connection must be a priority for trusts to move away from the now outdated bleep.
At such a crucial juncture for the NHS and healthcare at large, we must harness the power of technology to implement efficient and safe solutions.
If you’re interested in a reliable and efficient solution to bleeps, want to talk through your challenges or simply would like to arrange a demo of Infinity, please get in touch with our team via our contact page or by emailing us at [email protected].
You can read more about Infinity for patient flow, caseload management, and clinical communications here.
