The brief
WWL Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) had undertaken pilot scheme using digital signage and found it highly effective in showing patient and staff information and wanted to further extend it to improve best practice and internal communications across three sites.
The Greater Manchester Trust was opening new units at two of its hospitals and only had a two-week window of time for deployment of the extended screen network, before the units were opened to patients.
The solution
Although similar types/scales of installation project typically take between six to eight weeks to complete, we were able to use our experiences of working with other NHS Trusts and our understanding of patient/visitor flows to fast-track the project.
We installed large screens in the waiting areas to ensure that all patients and visitors would see handwashing messages before entering clinical areas. The screens would also display community news which would serve as a distraction whilst patients were waiting, reducing the likelihood of complaints.
We also installed screens in employee-only areas to display staff information on operational statistics, HR information, and any disruptions that might affect employees’ ability to provide care.
We sorted each different screen into a group, based on whether it would be staff or patients/visitors viewing the content, and created a different playlist for both screen groups, ensuring that the right messages were shown in the right places.
We also worked with WWL’s IT team to incorporate the Trust’s 3,000 staff desktop PCs into the digital signage estate. This meant that when a staff member’s screensaver activated due to inactivity, the content from the staff-only playlist would appear on the laptop screens as a dynamic looping sequence. This ensured that staff would regularly receive staff updates and regular reminders regarding best practice.
“The tangible benefits we’ve seen since deploying the SaturnVision solution is testament to Saturn’s expertise and the possibilities that digital signage presents as an effective communications channel. Indeed, the response was such that we rolled out a second phase project aimed at our internal stakeholders.”
Andy Savage, Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Foundation Trust
The result
Staff noticed direct correlations between the frequency of content appearing that related to hygiene and handwashing and the volume of hand sanitiser that had to be purchased, indicating that they were effective at encouraging visitors and staff to clean their hands.
Staff also gave positive feedback on being able to get useful updates and information from their laptop’s new screensaver function.
Andy Savage from the WWL Trust commented on the project:
“Information sharing is integral to our status as a Foundation Trust and we’re committed to developing clear lines of communication with our staff and the 300,000 plus people we serve
across the Borough,”
“Time was of the essence and we needed to select a suitable partner fast. We were impressed by Saturn’s digital signage expertise and their pedigree of clientele, but it was their healthcare and public sector experience that ultimately won out. The team clearly empathised with the particular challenges of an NHS scheme – from the initial budget implications through to overseeing an already tight installation with limited site access due to the sensitivities surrounding patient needs.
“Digital signage offers us a dynamic means to engage our public and with Saturn’s guidance we’re constantly looking at new ways to harness the technology by making incremental changes to the content we deliver.”
If you’d like to know more about the projects Saturn has delivered, simply get in touch with our team using the form at the bottom of this page, or use our contact us page.
Why not get in touch to find out more?
to top