NHS trusts to implement smart bleepers

Staff across two NHS trusts will soon be using the iBleep service

Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and Stockport NHS Foundation Trust have signed a deal with medical technology company iBleep to implement its latest interactive web-based messaging system.

A similar iBleep system has been used in NHS trusts for several years, but these are the first deals for the Hybrid system, which combines GPRS and Wi-Fi into one system. This new technology combines what had original been two bespoke systems supplied seperately.

The system intuitively knows whether users are logged in by Wi-Fi network or by mobile telecoms.

IBleep is designed as a replacement for traditional paging devices, but bears closer resemblance to a palm pilot. It provides clinicians with more information than a pager, including the patient's name, location, and the urgency of the problem, ranked red, amber of green.

If red or amber, additional patient observations are entered, such as oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood pressure, respiration rate, temperature, level of consciousness and urine flow. Doctors can then use that information to prioritise their calls.

iBleep worked with the District General Hospital in Auckland, New Zealand to design and refine the product.

The managing director of iBleep, Roy Walters said: "The project was initially designed as a six month trial across six wards. After two months, all doctors involved asked for it to go hospital wide, across 25 wards. They were the first to implement the hybrid. They've now seen a 25 per cent reduction in the calls to doctors, leaving them more time to spend with patients."

The trusts will both go live with the system later this month.