Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and CDW Transform Patient Care

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust and CDW Enable Better Patient Care Through Technology Innovation  

Stockport, UK – CDW, a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions to business, government, education, and healthcare customers, has joined forces with Stockport NHS Health Foundation Trust to better enable staff and improve patient care with innovation and digital capabilities. The collaboration is part of an 18-month digital transformation programme, and includes introducing cutting-edge solutions at Stepping Hill Hospital, the main acute hospital in the Stockport area.   

The digital transformation, facilitated by CDW, includes the implementation of a new Cisco wireless network infrastructure, digital informatics supporting agile working, Kontakt.io Real-Time Location Services (RTLS) for medical device management integrated with Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (formerly OneSign) and VDI infrastructure for fast and easy access to clinical workspaces. Additionally, the partnership incorporates a Zebra electronic blood tracking system which enhances traceability and reduces potential errors, thereby improving patient care.   

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust runs Stepping Hill hospital; the first acute hospital in the UK to implement the Kontakt.io Real-Time Location Services solution. Setting a precedent for innovation within NHS trusts, Stockport is paving the way for other trusts to integrate new technologies that can vastly transform and enable improved patient outcomes.   

With circa 6,300 staff, Stepping Hill serves 300,000 patients annually. Like many hospitals, it had been heavily reliant on manual processes. The hospital had a clear need to modernise and introduce technology to enhance patient care and flow. Holly Carr, Chief Clinical Information Officer and Clinical Safety Officer said: “We knew we needed to be smarter to maximise and optimise our existing resources. The new technology makes sharing devices and information more seamless and has enabled us to provide the infrastructure and digital capability to support a more agile working environment and more mobile workforce across multiple care settings."    

The trust turned to CDW as its technology partner due to its longstanding experience and wealth of knowledge in the healthcare sector and because CDW provided consistent value and consultancy throughout the programme. The transformation will serve as a model for other NHS trusts seeking to implement technology to improve overall performance.   

According to Phillipa Winter, Chief Technologist for Health and Social Care at CDW: “The forward-thinking vision that Stockport NHS Foundation Trust harboured for integrating technology sparked genuine excitement at CDW. It stands as a remarkable example of harnessing technology not to substitute human efforts but to elevate and amplify their impact on day-to-day tasks. This transformative approach not only empowers clinicians to extend their reach to more patients but also affords them the precious opportunity to invest additional, high-quality time in patient interactions, fostering a future where healthcare is not just efficient but deeply human-centred."  
 

Key solutions implemented include:     

• New Cisco Wireless Network Infrastructure and Digital Informatics:   
  Supports agile working for clinicians to ensure seamless access to data across all clinical areas.    
• Kontakt.io Real-Time Location Services (RTLS)  
  Equips hospitals with Real-Time Location Services to improve medical device and asset management identifying asset location on-site helping ensure greater efficiency and faster response times.   
• Imprivata Enterprise Access Management (formerly OneSign) 
  Enables quick and secure logins for clinicians wherever they are, facilitating seamless workflows. Reducing login time from three to four minutes down to a matter of seconds.   
• Zebra Mobile Devices to Support a Blood Traceability System   
  Provides end-to-end traceability of blood products with handheld digital scanners. This improves efficiency and reduces potential errors.   

About CDW   

CDW Corporation (Nasdaq: CDW) is a leading multi-brand provider of information technology solutions to business, government, education and healthcare customers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada. A Fortune 500 company and member of the S&P 500 Index, CDW was founded in 1984 and employs approximately 15,000 coworkers. For the trailing twelve months ended September 30, 2023, CDW generated Net sales of approximately $22 billion.