TelecomsTech (TT) spoke with Simon Watson (SW) from Spectralink, a global leader in wireless solutions, about NHS England’s recently announced £100m funding to modernise its ageing systems and improve patient care.
With a suite of healthcare solutions, Spectralink can offer a clear view of the specific areas the NHS should upgrade to remove barriers that slow clinical teams in urgent, life-or-death situations.
TT: Spectralink used the Freedom of Information Act to investigate NHS communication practices and found that two-thirds of nurses and clinical staff still rely on handwritten notes and corridor conversations to share vital patient information. To what extent are UK hospitals behind in adopting modern medical technology, and why did you carry out the FOI request?
SW: We wanted facts rather than assumptions. Our work in North America has focused heavily on improving productivity and efficiency for hospital staff. A 2013 Ponemon study examined the disruptions to clinical work caused by inefficient practices and found that clinicians were losing roughly 45 minutes a day searching for information they needed to treat patients effectively. Even in the largely commercial and efficiency-driven North American market this represented significant waste.
Extrapolated to the NHS, given its workforce and estimated salary ranges, this inefficiency could equate to around £1.1 billion a year. That’s a large sum that signals systemic issues worth addressing. Through FOI requests we asked how technology is used in trusts and how dependent staff still are on paper and verbal handovers. The results were alarming.
Two headline statistics stood out:
- 61% of nurses and staff were still using handwritten notes and verbal communication to share critical patient details such as medical notes and discharge instructions;
- only 34% were using electronic patient records to capture and share patient information.
Crucially, much of the information was only accessible from centralized workstations at nursing stations and not available on mobile devices at the bedside. That forces clinicians to make time-consuming trips back and forth to retrieve or update records, wasting time that could be spent on direct patient care.
TT: How do you see the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend affecting healthcare delivery?
SW: BYOD is rapidly changing practices elsewhere and many hospitals in the US are trying to use phones, tablets and other mobile devices to give nursing teams much quicker access to patient data right at the bedside. Our product history includes phone-like devices that integrate with patient data exchanges (PDX) and deliver alarms, alerts and critical notifications directly to a handset. However, BYOD exposes several practical concerns.
Hospital environments are harsh compared with consumer settings: hard floors, frequent cleaning with strong chemicals and high infection-control requirements. Consumer smartphones are not designed to withstand repeated drops on concrete or rigorous cleaning with disinfectants; they’re not rated for dust and liquid protection in the way clinical-grade devices are. A report from the Netherlands has highlighted that consumer-grade phones in hospitals can contribute to contamination and spread of bacteria, including MRSA, when devices aren’t designed to be properly cleaned.
So while BYOD promises speed and convenience, consumer devices often fall short in durability, infection control and maintainability in clinical settings.
TT: What key areas should the £100m fund prioritise?
SW: The priority should be increasing the flow of critical information from hospital systems to nursing staff at the bedside. Investments in mobile access to electronic patient records, secure messaging, and alarm delivery systems will reduce wasted time and improve response times.
Video communications are also growing rapidly in healthcare. Spectralink’s previous connection with Polycom gave us insight into how video can be applied across clinical workflows. There are excellent NHS case studies where video has accelerated assessments for cancer care and improved stroke diagnosis and treatment timelines. In Cumbria, for instance, video-assisted workflows helped clinicians diagnose stroke fast enough to deliver urgent treatments that enabled patients to leave hospital sooner with less ongoing care required.
These kinds of digital investments can reduce bottlenecks such as ambulances queueing at busy emergency departments, by streamlining triage, diagnostics and discharge planning.
TT: Do you expect machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies to play an important role in future healthcare?
SW: Absolutely. Many industries outside healthcare have seen dramatic gains from automation and improved information flow. The necessary infrastructure—secure networks and capable devices—is increasingly available. The primary barrier has been funding and prioritisation. With new investment, the NHS can accelerate deployment of automation, remote monitoring, and connected devices that improve patient safety and operational efficiency.
TT: Why has modernisation of NHS systems taken so long?
SW: It’s hard to pin down a single reason. Funding constraints, competing priorities, limited internal resources and the complexity of large system integrations all play a part. Healthcare organisations face demands across patient care, safety, infrastructure, process improvement and government targets, which makes prioritisation difficult. As long as political targets drive priorities, organisations will focus on meeting those mandates, which can defer longer-term investments in technology and productivity.
Ultimately, the £100m fund is a welcome step toward addressing these issues. Targeted investments in mobile access to records, robust clinical-grade devices, secure communications and video-enabled care pathways can deliver measurable improvements in efficiency, patient outcomes and staff productivity.
What do you think the NHS should prioritise with its £100m modernisation fund?
Explore Spectralink’s healthcare solutions at Spectralink.