Hospitals in Nottingham will become the first in the world to take advantage of an electronic blood-tracking system allowing nurses to use Apple iPods at the bedside.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has agreed the deal with leading healthcare technology company MSoft eSolutions to implement the technology at Nottingham City Hospital and Queen’s Medical Centre.

The Trust already has a strong working relationship with MSoft which last year decided to introduce its Bloodhound solution following a rigorous tender process.

Bloodhound controls access to and from all blood fridges, while a bedside management system allows each bar-coded blood unit to be matched with the patient’s bar-coded wristband in a matter of seconds.

The systems provide further enhanced security and safety by ensuring that only approved staff are allowed to access blood. The firm’s blood-tracking solution provides positive identification of users and patients and in-depth auditing of all bloods across each and every stage of the transfusion process – to help get the right blood into the right patient.

The latest innovation will initially see 10 iPods used by staff across the two sites. It is then likely to be rolled out further across the Trust.

Matt McAlister, Managing Director of Merseyside-based MSoft eSolutions, said: “Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is at the forefront of patient safety and innovation. The Trust believes in harnessing the very best in technology as part of its overall commitment to excellence in patient care.

“We have been in discussions with a number of Trusts about the implementation of our world first Bloodhound application. Nottingham has chosen to use Apple iPods, but the application also works with Windows or Google Android devices.

“We are delighted that nurses and other staff will be taking advantage of our Bloodhound application allowing them to access information and scan labels at the bedside.

“We believe passionately about the importance of providing our customers with modern, innovative and flexible technology which enables them to enhance patient care and improve patienty safety.

“Hospitals need to know that the technology they buy will provide them with the sophisticated, efficient and, most importantly, safe and secure systems they require.

“We expect a number of other Trusts to follow Nottingham in implementing the Bloodhound application over the coming months.”

more about Apple iPods Blood-tracking system

more about MSoft

more about Nottingham University Hospital