As it stands the, NHS needs to find a 20% productivity improvement over the next 5 years – one of the biggest challenges it currently faces. So it’s difficult to see how this improved productivity will be found without the use of innovative I.T frameworks that go beyond admin but deliver on patient care as well.

Kevin McAndrew of Knowledge I.T says the use of Electronic Patient Records (EPR) is already allowing cost and time savings for the NHS. “Commissioners must understand that the opportunity to transform healthcare through new I.T platforms is enormous.”

McAndrew isn’t talking about using robots for surgery (although that already happens), he is talking about developing wireless networks within hospitals that allow bedside nursing to be recorded electronically and stored within the secure hybrid cloud.

Knowledge I.T has just delivered one of the biggest hospital wireless networks in Europe. With over 1,500 points, the network ensures that patients’ treatment and records can be retrieved, updated and shared amongst the relevant people quickly and easily. In addition to this, the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) means that wheelchairs, medicine, supplies and instruments can be tracked and traced throughout the hospital. So instead of having a porter searching the hospital corridors for hours to find an IV pole, equipment that is available can be found immediately and delivered to the people that need it most.

The team of in-house specialists at Knowledge have worked for 2 years to implement the aforementioned new wireless network and feel that they have delivered a solution that can now be rolled out across hospitals up and down the country.

A second pilot scheme has just been completed and Knowledge continues to work with several other NHS hospitals to develop common platforms that are innovative, secure and flexible.

Knowledge now finds itself in a strong position to actually deliver wireless network platforms for health organisations that are enablers for changing the way health care is delivered, rather than just complex I.T admin systems.

McAndrew says “Knowledge has been able to deliver solutions that complement the strategic direction of the NHS and will continue to use its specialists to develop innovative and flexible I.T solutions for healthcare that go beyond admin.”

Kevin McAndrew is Operations Director, Knowledge I.T.