Mr Karl Davies1
1NSW Ambulance, Australia
Abstract:
Introduction:
The objective of this project was to create a centralised platform for transfer of care (TOC) communication between the Ministry of Health, Emergency Departments, Local Health Districts, and NSW Ambulance, to promote greater transparency and accountability for TOC reporting.
Methods:
The Ambulance Arrivals board was enhanced to allow hospital managers to input TOC plans directly onto the board. Leveraging off existing established networks, additional features were integrated to connect with the patient flow portal, enabling the control centre to monitor when ambulances were allocated clinical space, improving system visibility on resource availability. Extensive consultation with stakeholders ensured user-friendly design and functionality. Feedback sessions were conducted to refine the software interface, incorporating iterative adjustments based on end-user input.
Results:
By centralising information and streamlining communication processes, the platform significantly improved transparency and accountability within the transfer of care reporting system. Hospitals can communicate transfer of care plans to NSW Ambulance in real-time. Moreover, by creating a single source of truth, the new platform reduced the double handling of information, eliminating redundancies and enhancing operational efficiency.
Conclusion:
This project demonstrates the effectiveness of collaborative innovation in improving transfer of care communication. By empowering hospital staff with direct TOC input capabilities and integrating real-time monitoring features, the platform connects people promoting system transparency and accountability while driving operational efficiency.