North Bristol’s Southmead Hospital boosts digital transformation with Version 7

Southmead Hospital, part of North Bristol NHS Trust, has boosted the digital transformation of its outpatient department with the launch of Version 7 of Intouch with Health’s patient flow management software.

The Trust, which has over 8,000 staff delivering healthcare across Southmead Hospital, Cossham Hospital and Bristol Centre for Enablement, in addition to the local community of Bristol and South Gloucestershire, has updated the specification of its digital outpatient flow software as part of its overarching aim of providing exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.

Phase one of the upgrade included the re-launch of Intouch’s patient self Check-in, Flow Manager and patient Calling modules to staff and services, with phase two set to incorporate further integration work with the Trust’s Lorenzo Patient Administration System (PAS).

“Not only does this information make it easier and more efficient for staff to identify potential bottlenecks and problem areas before they happen, but it also drastically improves the patient experience.”


The Trust is also set to introduce Intouch’s Wait Time Manager module, designed to help improve the effective and efficient communication of clinic waiting times to outpatients via digital patient calling screens displayed in waiting areas.

Kevin Fletcher, Chief Operating Officer at Intouch with Health, explained: “Wait Time Manager digitally captures key points in each patient’s journey such as their time of arrival and the time their appointment started, before calculating expected waiting times and automatically informing staff and patients if a clinic delay is likely.

“Not only does this information make it easier and more efficient for staff to identify potential bottlenecks and problem areas before they happen, but it also drastically improves the patient experience by keeping the patient informed of and up to date with the length of time they may have to wait, from the moment they arrive for their appointment.”

Kevin added: “All staff involved have been extremely pleased with improvements in efficiency and performance of the platform since launching Version 7, and they have especially enjoyed the look and feel of the new dashboard. We look forward to working alongside the team moving forward throughout the project.”

North Bristol’s Southmead Hospital boosts digital transformation