Safeguarding patients across the ICS environment

The NHS's recent decision to expand virtual wards1 to include children's services not only emphasises the growing role of community-based care but also the new challenges faced by Integrated Care Systems (ICS) in managing a patient experience across multiple disparate organisations.

Technology innovation plays a key role in enabling high-quality, consistent care to patients both within a physical hospital environment and in the community. With ICSs already losing millions of pounds worth of assets located within a physical Trust environment, what steps are being put in place to mitigate the clinical safety risks of spreading this expensive asset base across multiple teams and organisations, and into the community? How will an ICS manage the essential allocation, cleaning, maintenance and recovery of equipment when it is moving between care environments; or achieve essential economies of scale through more effective asset utilisation across diverse organisations?

For innovative ICSs, the evolution towards joined-up care and joined-up information is compelling. By improving the overlap between Trusts and service providers, the ICS will be able to capture and manage an entire patient encounter. One of the benefits is that the patient's journey through the care system will be faster and less stressful and not require them to explain their condition and concerns repeatedly. Accurate tracking of medical equipment location and status throughout the healthcare environment and the community can also help streamline the care journey and smooth out many of the problems that can frustrate clinicians and impact patient outcomes.