This is the third article in a series of blog posts that explores Alcidion’s core values in action and how they influence our work, products and culture. In this blog, UK Managing Director Lynette Ousby takes a look at how we live the value “We are optimistic”.
At Alcidion we believe that technology can truly assist in contributing to safer, more effective outcomes in healthcare. Adopting innovative technology can be a daunting prospect however the benefits that can be achieved by implementing Alcidion’s smart solutions can improve not just the burden on clinicians but also enact a workflow that provides safer care for patients.
The adoption of Alcidion’s products in the UK has been an exciting trajectory and I’m pleased to share our successes following the launch of Miya Precision and how we embrace the ‘we are optimistic’ value in everything that we do.
Miya Precision entered the UK market in July 2020 providing the NHS with a clinical decision support tool to quickly adopt new and emerging smart technologies as well as address NHS strategic priorities. Alcidion were optimistic that we could offer a solution that would remove system roadblocks for the NHS and significantly improve patient safety and care delivery.
Alcidion are proud that we have now partnered with 27 National Health Service (NHS Trusts) to implement digital solutions across the UK and that our customers are achieving results that are positively impacting the way that they deliver care. Smartpage, Miya Observations and Miya Assessments (Patientrack) have enjoyed significant success in the United Kingdom. The ability of Smartpage to integrate with existing IT systems across the trusts has provided Alcidion a gateway in reaching new customers and inviting them to realise the benefits of Alcidion’s product offering and hero product – Miya Precision.
We are developing partnerships
In 2019, Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust announced a five year contract to implement Alcidion’s Miya Precision platform, Smartpage and Patientrack solutions. This agreement also included implementation of and Better Meds Electronic Prescribing and Medications Administration (ePMA), Alcidion’s first deployment of that product. This contract has been a significant one for us to be able to manage the implementation of digital solutions from start to finish and use the successes Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust achieve as a benchmark in the industry, providing other NHS Trusts with insights into why adopting Alcidion’s innovative solutions can assist in executing the NHS Long Term Plan and improve patient care now and into the future.
Alcidion is implementing Miya Precision, Patientrack and the Better Meds system at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (South Tees). We extended our partnership with them to include Smartpage, cloud hosting and change management tools in November 2020. The extension of the South Tees contract was a significant milestone for Alcidion in the UK market and we look forward to watching these tools increase their productivity and patient care techniques.
We were delighted to recently announce a five year deal with East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust (East Lancashire Trust) to implement Patientrack (now Miya Observations and Miya Assessments) and Smartpage in March 2021. This capability accompanied by Smartpage will be an important part of East Lancashire Hospitals Trust’s digital roadmap and the deployment reaching thousands of NHS professionals across five hospitals in East Lancashire will benefit clinicians to use these smart solutions to monitor and respond to patients in need of urgent attention.
The success of Smartpage has been its ability to work with existing systems and this continues to be recognised with our recent agreement to deploy the solution to meet the needs of busy healthcare staff at Five NHS trusts and the Isle of Man’s Department of Health and Social Care. Not to mention aligning with health and social care secretary Matt Hancock’s campaign for the NHS to phase out pagers by the end of 2021.
We are optimistic that the implementations of these solutions and the positivity within the UK healthcare market shows that Alcidion can deliver on the promises we make, instilling a partnership with customers that believe technology solutions can deliver safer and time saving results.
We are growing
To be able to achieve these wins, you need a great team! Since January we have welcomed Clinical Consultant Katy Cain, Programme Manager Harvey Hanson, Managed Services Consultant Jamie Longmore, Clinical Product Specialist Kate Gaunt, Service Desk Manager Kal Johal and Project Manager Louise Clowes to the team with Kerry Kelly joining us in June as Business Operations Assistant, bringing the UK Team to 35.
- A senior nurse with more than 20 years’ experience, Katy joins the team from East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and will be instrumental in helping us to listen to the needs of NHS professionals.
- Harvey brings with him 15 years of healthcare experience working on a variety of business change and transformational programmes of work including the National Programme for IT, Gibraltar EPR Programme and Doncaster and Bassetlaw PAS and ED replacement.
- With 15 years of experience in IT, having previously spent 5 years working for the NHS as an infrastructure support / projects engineer, Jamie will contribute to our global support team with particular focus on local technical support for our Miya Precision, ePMA and Smartpage products.
- Kate Gaunt is an experienced healthcare professional with a background in theatres, emergency care and resuscitation. As a super user, Kate will be working closely with our customers to deploy Miya Precision to a clinical setting.
- Project Manager Louise Clowes brings over 10 years of valuable experience to Alcidion, having delivered complex Healthcare IT solutions to a number of UK Trusts focused on PAS, EPR, ED and integration.
- Kal has a wealth of customer service leadership experience in Healthcare IT, with a proven track record in creating something new or improving processes to maintain high standards of support to clinical applications.
- With over 20 years of experience working in finance, Kerry Kelly will assist the Burnley office in financial administration, office management and supporting sales and marketing functions.
Recently Alcidion welcomed ExtraMed, a UK patient flow software company to the Group. For 20 years, ExtraMed have been providing patient flow software and command centre communications to a number of NHS Trusts. We are excited to have the ExtraMed team of 11 staff on board and look forward to combining the teams and services to continue to provide innovative and exciting services to ExtraMed and Alcidion customers.
The growth and investment in the UK team has allowed us to open a new office in Burnley. Having been raised in Padiham, it is exciting to join the North West community and develop career opportunities at Alcidion within these regions. Please visit our career page for upcoming positions!
It is a busy time for Alcidion but we believe that implementing innovative technology can impact healthcare delivery in revolutionary ways, saving clinician’s time by providing them with actionable insights to improve patient outcomes. We are optimistic in continuing to develop our relationships and expanding Alcidion’s footprint across the United Kingdom.
Lynette Ousby is the UK Managing Director at Alcidion