Case Study
Mobile solution proves the perfect fit at
The Princess Royal Hospital
NHS England’s Five Year Forward View has set out clear prescriptions for the long term
success of the NHS. Amongst these is the development of new care models. While this will
undoubtedly engender a more efficient healthcare system, there is a clear need to improve
patient access in the short term. Mobile healthcare facilities are proving to be a key tool to
temporarily boost clinical capacity and improve the patient pathway.
Case Study
As the main provider of acute hospital care to 500,000
people, efficient patient flow is essential to The
Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. With 99%
of the Trust’s services housed across two sites it is
crucial that patient care is delivered efficiently.
As part of a focus to improve access to services the Trust
sought to utilise mobile healthcare facilities at their Princess
Royal Hospital site in Telford – specifically addressing those
awaiting treatment for upper limb orthopaedics and dental
surgery.
The Trust had previously engaged with mobile facilities, to help
improve access to diagnostic procedures, when Vanguard
Healthcare supplied a mobile endoscopy suite to the same
site. The success of this partnership gave the Trust the
confidence to utilise Vanguard’s mobile solutions once again.
Vanguard is a pioneer of flexible healthcare delivery with
13 years experience in supporting the NHS, providing
additional clinical capacity supplying innovative mobile
facilities and clinical services.
The Trust sought to maximise the efficiency of a mobile
solution by utilising a facility that would offer the capability to
both treat patients and provide ample room for their recovery.
As a result Vanguard supplied a ‘Visiting Hospital’, an intuitive
doubled in the same period. In the 23 weeks that the unit was
on site, 742 additional treatments took place at The Princess
Royal Hospital. Carried out by the Trust’s own surgeons and
assisted by Vanguard’s nursing staff.
combination of a mobile theatre and mobile ward unit, allowing
the facility to effectively act as a standalone day surgery.
The theatre unit, which houses dedicated anaesthetic,
operating and recovery rooms, provides the highest standards
of sterile clinical environment. The facility utilises a laminar flow
system in the operating theatre which forces over 600 complete
changes of air under its hood. This drastically minimises the
risk of airborne infection - making the unit highly suited to the
invasive orthopaedic procedures the Trust wanted to carry out.
Alongside the clinical capacity offered by the ‘Visiting
Hospital’, Vanguard also supplied two members of its own
nursing staff. Not only did the presence of Vanguard’s staff
reduce the impact on the hospital’s own nurses. They
also offer experience of working within the mobile facility,
helping the host personnel to seamlessly adapt to their new
surroundings.
Temporarily having the additional surgical capacity, on site
at The Princess Royal, allowed the Trust to more intuitively
organise its waiting lists by improving access for treatment in
the specialities for which demand was greatest.
Debbie Kadum, Chief Operating Officer at The Shrewsbury
and Telford Hospital NHS Trust commented: ‘Ensuring that
our patients have full access to the treatment they require
has always been a priority for the Trust. At a time when
we wanted to improve this access, Vanguard provided
the perfect solution. The ‘Visiting Hospital’ allowed us to
meet the challenge head on and organise our waiting lists
around the additional capacity.’
Vanguard’s Chief Executive, Ian Gillespie commented: ‘The
staff at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust have
exemplified the perfect use of mobile healthcare facilities.
Identifying a need to increase access to certain services, that
could be easily fulfilled if capacity were available, they met the
challenge head on and organised their waiting lists around
the ‘Visiting Hospital’. In taking this kind of advanced action,
the Trust has put the patient first and improved its already
exceptional services’
Feedback:
Many of the Trust’s staff described their experiences of
Vanguard’s ‘Visiting Hospital’, here is what they had to say:
“It was a pleasure, facility fit for purpose. Clinical
staff very good and team leader excellent.”
In Trauma and Orthopaedics the percentage of patients
treated within 18 weeks of referral increased by nearly a third
between June, when the unit was installed, and December,
when the final procedures took place. While in Oral Surgery
those patients treated within the 18 week target more than
For a complete understanding of our mobile healthcare solutions, contact us today.
t: 0845 630 6979
Senior Theatre Practitioner
‘Very impressed by the facility and the staff working
in it. I felt it was an excellent facility to temporarily
increase capacity for suitable cases’
Assistant Business Manager
e: [email protected]
Ref:CS-EN 0315