The challenge

In traditional clinical practice, many handover meetings and associated tasks are managed using manual, paper-based methods, and staff usually update clinical systems only at their shifts’ end. Crucial information is therefore not always available in real-time, and staff must make partially-informed decisions, or make multiple phone calls to get the full picture. This is inefficient and risks patient safety; communications issues at handover are a contributing factor in >60% of hospital adverse events and cost the NHS >£1bn a year.

The solution

Infinity is a digital platform on which health and care staff log, share and coordinate their daily tasks in real-time, enabling them to manage their caseload more efficiently and safely.

Using Infinity, staff can securely access up-to-date lists of patients and the tasks that they need to do for them. The platform reduces the need for paper-based lists and associated bleeps, phone calls, instant messages, and other forms of communication.

Tasks are easily assigned to roles and/or individuals, and their status can be updated at the point of care, providing visibility to the rest of the team. Notifications ensure nothing is missed. All activity is automatically documented.

Infinity gives managers full oversight of activity in real-time through interactive dashboards; they can quickly see the status of tasks and make data-driven decisions. We improve patient flow by providing a reliable and live bed-state to site teams, including a summary of available beds and planned discharges.

Everything is more efficient with Infinity. I can manage the task list digitally, whilst I’m with a patient, ticking off each item and making sure I don’t miss anything. Whilst I’m out on visits, the team in the office can update the task list, and when I log back in, I can see what I need to do next…We’ve also been able to run handovers virtually, as the whole team can update and access tasks on Infinity from wherever they are.

Karen Dachtler, Senior Nurse, STARRS at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust

The impact

Short-term assessment, rehabilitation and reablement service (STARRS) at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust demonstrate:

  • Infinity saves a collective 7.4-8.6 hours of time per day, equivalent to up to 3,147 hours a year.
  • Time savings in travel to handover alone have built some staff members’ capacity to see 1-2 extra patients per day; if realised across the service, STARRS’ capacity to visit patients would increase by 27-55%, without increasing staff numbers.

In Northwick Park Hospital Emergency Department:

  • Infinity enabled a sustained reduction of six minutes per request, which calculates to 10,000 hours of staff time, equivalent to five full time members of staff.
  • Infinity also had a huge positive impact on staff and patient experiences; the platform shares the name of the clinician and the patient, which helped reduce cancellations by over 80% and had a significant humanising effect.