Darent Valley kiosks save time and money

A new check-in system at Darent Valley Hospital has reduced the amount of time spent guiding patients through its check-in process by the equivalent of four full-time staff members.

The Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust agreed on a deal with iSoft, a CSC company, to implement the five kiosks, in conjunction with eight appointment call-out information screens a year ago.

The system has now been in operation for four months and has drastically improved staff efficiency, according to trust project manager Paul Wilson.

He said the amount of staff time that would have previously been spent on checking patients in had been reassigned to other areas.

“By releasing receptionists from routine check-in procedures their roles have been redesigned, giving them more time for check out duties and patients that need their help,” he said.

Nurses were also now spending less time guiding patients around the hospital.

The initial intention for introducing the kiosks was to reduce the rate of did-not-attend appointments, as patients are asked to update their demographic and contact information when checking-in.

Early results have shown the number of follow-up appointments where patients do not turn up has reduced by 1%. While minimal, it is estimated to have saved the trust £20,000.

The self-service check-in kiosks have also resulted in the trust securing extra funding from its strategic health authority.

The software was set up to automatically ask each patient about their smoking when they checked in.

That helped the trust meet the smoking cessation referral target set by the South East Coast SHA, and be awarded extra funding of £120,000.