Q-Pulse has a proven track record and is a growing presence within the NHS. Across Kent, it has already been adopted by several organisations which has enhanced a smoother patient experience and pathway of care. For us, it has enabled us to maintain our current NHSLA Level 1 status.
Vicky Pemberton
Directorate Quality Manager
As one of the UK’s largest NHS Trusts, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust provides full hospital services to over half-a-million patients in south east Kent and parts of south east Sussex. In addition, through their Kent Oncology Centre, they provide specialist cancer services to around 1.8 million patients across the whole of Kent, Hastings and Rother.
As current users of Q-Pulse, the compliance management solution developed by Gael, the Trust were already aware of its capabilities after implementing the solution across their Oncology, Pathology and Radiology departments, with 1500 staff having access to the system. Although the Trust were using Q-Pulse across these departments, it was recognised that the solution could provide further benefits within other departments of the organisation. Following consultation with Gael, a Trust-wide version of Q-Pulse was scoped and rolled out, a move which saw Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells become the first such organisation to adopt a Trust-wide system.
There were also further benefits for the Trust, after proposed changes were announced to withdraw the system they were already using to store current and archived documentation. This well-known system is being replaced by Q-Pulse which, in turn, will maintain the Trusts saving of £300,000 by maintaining their NHSLA Level 1 status and will help to achieve further savings as the Q-Pulse system develops through the Trust.
Vicky Pemberton, Directorate Quality Manager, said: “We had already experienced the benefits of using Q-Pulse across our Oncology, Pathology and Radiology departments and knew that it could easily handle documentation such as Trust Policies, Procedures and Staff and Patient Information. As a result, we wanted Q-Pulse implemented Trust-wide so we could see the same benefits across every department.
"The Trust is increasingly asked to demonstrate compliance and to provide quality monitoring and standards evidence to external organisations. This evidence may be electronic or printed data that has been created by a range of staff and, in some cases, from many decades previously. As external quality monitoring grows and the demand from patients to see their own data increases, current Trust document and data management systems will be put under increased pressure. For external organisations, time is then spent completing new evidence rather than building on existing data and information. There is the risk of litigation from patients if Trust policies and procedures at the time of treatment cannot be found with certainty. Q-Pulse can help to provide that certainty.
"As well as this, our attempts were focused on using Q-Pulse as the central driver in future efforts to achieve Foundation Trust status; and we also plan on using Q-Pulse to help achieve Trust-wide ISO accreditation.”
Vicky added “Q-Pulse has a proven track record and is a growing presence within the NHS. Across Kent, Q-Pulse has already been adopted by several organisations which has enhanced a smoother patient experience and pathway of care. For us, it has not only been a breath of fresh air and enabled us to maintain our current NHSLA Level 1 status; it will be an enabler to make further savings.”