New software to drive theatre efficiency at Pennine Acute hospitals

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is rolling out a new state-of-the-art IT theatre management system to significantly improve theatre use and patient care across its hospitals, including the Rochdale Infirmary.

The IT software – ‘TheatreMan’, a modular computerised theatre and day surgery management system – will be provided by leading UK healthcare software specialists Trisoft Limited.

The Trust currently uses an in-house developed theatre management system which has been in place for 18 years.

TheatreMan will assist the Trust to deliver efficiencies in theatre scheduling and patient management, as well as improvements to stock control and inventory processes. It will also play a pivotal role in driving accuracy and availability of information needed for activity and performance reporting.

The new system is part of the Trust’s Transforming for Excellence (TfE) quality improvement and cost efficiency programme which it launched last year.

The Trust will complete implementation of TheatreMan across its four hospital sites at North Manchester General Hospital, Fairfield General Hospital in Bury, The Royal Oldham Hospital and Rochdale Infirmary by winter this year (2011).

Christine Walters, Associate Director of IM&T at Pennine Acute NHS Trust, said:
“We implemented our current theatre management system almost two decades ago. It has served us well, but with advancements in technology and medical procedures, there are risks around the technical and operational support of this product.

“After evaluating the market for theatre management systems, we selected TheatreMan as the best solution for our needs.”

Nasir Hyder, Sales Director for Trisoft Limited, added: “Every NHS organisation is under pressure to make efficiency savings and to deliver a greater return on investment.

“Our TheatreMan software already assists hospitals around the UK to significantly improve theatre utilisation: reducing costs and improving the patient experience.

“At Trisoft we look forward to working with The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust to ensure they achieve maximum value too.”