Streamlining referral & theatre management at a major trauma network
King’s College Hospital (KCH) is the major trauma centre for the South East London Kent and Medway (SELKaM) trauma network, which is the busiest trauma network in the UK. The King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCHNFT) comprises two hospitals: KCH and Princess Royal University Hospital, with clinical leads and managers in trauma and orthopaedics (T&O) requiring oversight of both locations. KCH is renowned as one of the largest and busiest hospitals in the country, offering exceptional specialty services. Since 2017, the hospital has received nearly 27,000 referrals, processed an average of 300 to 400 referrals per month, and carried out 13,000 operations. To ensure smooth coordination of care within this bustling centre, efficient procedure planning and digital trauma lists play a vital role, and Pathpoint eTrauma provided the solution to their challenges.
Challenges
Trauma list planning conducted on white boards, word documents, and excel spreadsheets
Inefficiencies in theatre list planning resulted in cancellations and delays
Limited visibility of outstanding trauma cases and pending workload between KCH and PRUH
Reliance on emails and phone calls for tertiary referrals led to poor governance data capture
Lack of data capture hindered research, audits, and service improvements
Inability to time-reference key parts of patient pathways
Key learning points
Digital transformation optimises workflows and boosts efficiency, going beyond digitising old processes
Early and ongoing involvement of all stakeholders is crucial to ensure the system meets everyone’s
needs
Regular client feedback is obtained to adapt processes and ensure they align with their requirements
Interoperability is vital for integration with external referrals, and eTrauma avoids workflow fragmentation by integrating with other digital systems
Solution
KCHNFT approached Open Medical who provided them with a cloud-based trauma coordination and clinical workflow digital solution, Pathpoint eTrauma.
eTrauma centralises lists of scheduled, unscheduled, and pending patients on a digital trauma board for real-time oversight and coordination
It acts as a hub for managing orthopaedic trauma referrals, enabling electronic referrals, and improving communication with external referrers
The platform automates workflows, streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and reducing errors and data loss
Powerful real-time data insights, reporting, and analytics support better decision-making, research, auditing, and service planning
Customisable digital referral forms and role-based access enhance user flexibility and permissions
It facilitates clear, two-way communication between KCH and external referrers
Wound images are securely captured and stored within eTrauma, eliminating reliance on personal devices
Users have remote access to eTrauma, enabling flexibility and productivity
A live trauma dashboard provides real-time overview with tagged patient status for tracking and prioritisation
Reliance on emails and phone calls for tertiary referrals led to poor governance data capture
Lack of data capture hindered research, audits, and service improvements
Inability to time-reference key parts of patient pathways
Results
Pathpoint eTrauma was successfully implemented across both sites in the Trust - KCH in 2017 and PRUH in 2021
Enhanced Trauma Coordination:
Improved visibility of pending workload and patients at home
Easy communication between T&O and theatres
Features such as golden patient tag, equipment requests, and cancellation logs
Increased Workload Visibility:
Trauma workload visibility extended across both sites
Accessible from home for on-call consultants
Ensures efficient management and allocation of resources
Clinical Audit Support:
Easily exportable data
Supported hundreds of clinical audit projects
Enables comprehensive analysis and evaluation of trauma services
Informed Decision Making:
Automatically generated daily reports
Timely updates to management and clinical leads
Facilitated informed decision-making and oversight
External Referral Management:
Electronic forms and automated notifications
Improved efficiency
Ensures fully governed capture of referral decisions and advice
Real-Time Documentation:
Trauma meeting decisions documented in real-time
Readily accessible to the wider team
Enhances collaboration and promotes consistent care management
eTrauma has been instrumental, ensuring that we have an efficient theatre management system. It has also been fantastic in running a tertiary referral service for major trauma. It has provided an excellent audit trail of all referrals and replies to referring units. It has also been a fantastic database system to ensure all the patients are fully accounted for and provides all of the missing logistical support that we do not currently have with our electronic patient record.
Mr Aswinkumar Vasireddy
Consultant Orthopaedic Trauma Surgeon – King’s College Hospital, London
