Heartbeat: Learning never stops for the surgical unit

November 28, 2019

“Every day’s a school day” was the motto regularly repeated on the City surgical unit during the Unity go-live fortnight. Ward Manager, Jo Mansell and her team had done plenty to prepare for the launch of our new electronic patient record but were keen to ensure that the learning process never stops.

Preparations for Unity, including individual training, team competencies and regular practise on the Play System, had been co-ordinated by Jo Mansell and ward clerk Jo Leake, but everyone impressively rose to the challenge.

“From a ward and surgical services perspective we wanted to be as prepared for go-live as possible,” says Jo Mansell. “I always think that we should be proactive rather than reactive. We set up a training room on D27 with devices and desktops. It’s a nice quiet environment. Jo Leake supported staff to do their training, for the benefit of them, the team, and ultimately the patients.”

A positive and engaging approach was key, particularly with those who were feeling anxious about change. “Staff were supported with additional IT training to give them the reassurance and encouragement to help them through their e-learning,” explained Jo Leake.

Having put in all the groundwork over the course of several months, the City surgical unit were ready for go-live on Saturday 21 September. There were still some nerves as the switchover started in the early hours of the morning, but also a sense of camaraderie and excitement. Everyone was in it together.

“We had a Unity snack station to look after everyone’s wellbeing and keep their morale up. I made goodie bags for everyone who was working during go-live,” said Jo Mansell. “These included the snacks, health and wellbeing leaflets and the Unity pocket guides.”

Jo Leake added: “It felt a little bit daunting initially, but knowing that there was support there from the Unity team and floorwalkers was reassuring and the staff felt more comfortable. The nurses in charge over the weekend, Charlene Thames on Saturday, and Jade Howell on Sunday, really stepped up to the plate. Everyone did. I was proud to be part of it.”

The team soon became accustomed to this new way of working and are continuing to enhance their knowledge of Unity as each day goes by – finding solutions and sharing tips. The experience has brought them all closer together and given them a greater understanding of each other’s roles.

This has helped to make things much smoother and more efficient in several respects. “Every time we’ve requested a porter they’ve been here within five minutes and all the information is on their device,” said Jo Mansell.

“The turnover with pharmacy, in terms of ordering medication and the discharge process, is much quicker and safer. We’re also doing the drug round in half the time it had taken previously.”

Dom LeGros, who supported the team in his role as business relationship manager, saw a real togetherness in their work: “If we think back to when all this started, and the naming competition, Unity was chosen because it was uniting patient records, but in actual fact it’s done a lot more than that and united the organisation.”