Grant for HP tablets will revolutionise the way hospice nurses work
A grant from the Big Lottery Fund for HP tablets will revolutionise the way St Elizabeth Hospice community nurses work.
The Big Lottery Fund gave the local charity a grant of £9,782 to buy 16 HP tablets for their nurses to use whilst out in the community.
St Elizabeth Hospice provides vital care and support for people living with a progressive illness such as cancer, motor neurone disease, heart, lung or kidney disease with two thirds of their patients being cared for at home.
Martin Russell, clinical nurse specialist for the hospice, said: “With so many people choosing to receive hospice care at home we are constantly looking for ways to improve the patient experience and to allow us to see more patients in a day.
“We’ve had the tablets over a month now and we are already starting to see the benefits. They give us flexibility, allowing us to access patient records and information at any time, safely and securely. It’s at our fingertips, which is extremely helpful when we’re meeting with people from other organisations to discuss patient cases, such as GPs and district nurses.
“The main benefit for us though is the time it will save us. We can now update patient records on the go, meaning we don’t have to come back to the office and spend time at the end of every day typing up notes – we can update there and then.”
The Big Lottery Fund give out millions of pounds every year from the National Lottery to good causes, with the money going to projects that improve health, education and the environment.
Mr Russell added: “We are hugely grateful to the Big Lottery Fund for giving us this grant towards the tablets. They are already making a difference to patient care and the use of them is going to grow and grow.”
St Elizabeth Hospice has three specialist community teams who provide care and support to patients and their families in their own homes, a care home or wherever they feel safe and comfortable: they’re community clinical nurse specialists, hospice at home nurse specialists and community healthcare assistants.
To find out more about hospice services, please click here.