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Our Brief was simple but very broad:
" If we wanted to combine all our existing emergency facilities into one unit, how big would it need to be?, how would it be staffed?, how many beds?, how many trolleys?, how many cubicles?, and how would we ensure it will meet the future demands of Basingstoke, the fastest growing town in Europe?"
This led to a detailed 7 page brief with 11 key questions and a number of subquestions.
Having made the decision to invest in planning we had to look externally for a partner. Initially we short listed 3 companies, principally on the recommendations of the Modernisation Agency. Focused_On Health stood out from day one. Why? - they clearly demonstrated an in depth knowledge of simulation, they understood the idiosyncrasies of the NHS and most importantly, their simple 7 step approach to modelling was something that could easily be tailored to our organisation and understood by clinicians.
Having completed this work, I would, without hesitation, recommend Steven Burnell and his colleagues at Focused_On Health. If your organisation is serious about simulation as a planning tool I would offer the following as some learning points and I know some of these seem obvious but I think they are worth re-iterating:-
- Having been convinced by Steven to start with this part of the process, it was by far the most valuable part of the exercise. In part it confirmed what we thought we knew, but it ensured that the clinicians owned the data that ultimately produced the simulation model.... and hence believed the results.
- Get more than one opinion, particularly with regard to the triangulation. Consultants and nurses have a different perspective of what happens with the ED on a daily basis and how long it takes.
At the risk of sounding like an advertisement for Focused_On Health, an example question might be:
"What is the impact on equipment and staff utilisation (hence waits) if demand in the ED goes up 10%?"
If you can answer this question with such a simple table, covering both utilisation and waiting time impact, you may not need simulation. If you can't, simulation and Focused_On can help you.
This was just 1 of the 11 key questions that Focused_On Health helped us to answer.
Our new Emergency Assessment Centre is still in the feasibility stage, we have now engaged the architects who are working with the quantity surveyor and engineers to tell us what is possible.
We have not made our final recommendation to the Board, but when we do I will be confident that not only will it be deliverable from both an architectural/design perspective but also from an operational/patient perspective.
"It will be a truly fit for purpose recommendation"
OPTIMISED RESOURCES : GREATER PATIENT CARE