Transforming Patient Experience in Radiology and Beyond Through Portering

Before implementing MyPorter, a digital portering management tool, Sunderland Royal Hospital experienced many connectivity issues due to using a Wi-Fi system that resulted in a lot of failed tasks going from the helpdesk to the porters. They needed a system that ensured the porters received the tasks on time with the information they need.

Collaborating with GV Healthcare, Sunderland Royal Hospital chose to trial MyPorter within their Radiology department – using it to send ‘text messages’ to two-way radios carried by the Porters. Claire Dodds, Hotel Service Manager, CHoICE Facilities Services said “we chose MyPorter over other solutions because of the reporting system we were shown, (the reports) were really really good and also the handhelds (two-way radios) were easy to use.”

“We trialled MyPorter in the Radiology department because we didn’t have a system in there that allocated tasks directly to the porters. It was a very successful trial. The Radiographers loved it and the Porters did so (we) rolled it out to the rest of the hospital because of the success of that trial”, she continues.

MyPorter has also enabled staff to focus on more important tasks, such as patient care and treatment, rather than spending valuable time tracking down a porter to collect a patient.

Amanda Pells, Plain Film Modality Lead within the Radiology department, said “MyPorter has more visibility. Visibility of where our Porters are, visibility of where patients are in the system. We can look in MyPorter and see this patient has been allocated to a Porter”. Juliet Bwanya, Senior Radiographer, adds “We don’t  have patients lining up in the corridor and once we’ve finished with the patient we send them back on MyPorter, so a Porter is already alerted that somebody needs to go back”.

By leveraging cutting-edge technology and working together, the hospital has been able to enhance the patient experience and improve outcomes.

Mark Turner, Portering & Security Manager at CHoICE Facilities Services, shares that “there’s been a massive improvement in response times. Particularly now that the system can identify where a Porter is on their task.”

Claire Dodds, Hotel Service Manager, said “Now that we’ve got MyPorter, we can look and see that we’ve increased throughput, our throughput has increased about 28 percent.  She adds, “Morale has gone up. Porters aren’t receiving more jobs than another Porter, it’s a fairer system and the reporting system is absolutely brilliant”.

Dan Wheeler, Porter at CHoICE Facilities Services, follows with “So the biggest change since MyPorter has been (installed) is the efficiency. In Portering you need to be efficient, you need to get there quickly, you need to perform your duty quickly and then you need to move on to the next one.”

Wayne Carr, Director CHoICE Facilities Services, said “MyPorter has delivered everything CHoICE wanted and more. I would say to other Directors that if you’re looking for a high-quality flexible portering management solution then MyPorter fits the bill perfectly. GV Healthcare have been excellent to work with and have a shared vision with CHoICE all the way through the process. I would recommend it to anybody that’s looking for a similar type of system.”

Watch the full video to see their experience of MyPorter and its full impact within Sunderland Royal Hospital.

To talk to a member of the team about arranging a visit to Sunderland Royal Hospital, please email [email protected]

NHE March/April 2024

NHE March/April 2024

A window into the past, present and future of healthcare leadership.

- Steve Gulati, University of Birmingham 

More articles...

View all
Online Conference

Presenting

2024 Online Conferences

In partnership with our community of health sector leaders responsible for delivering the UK's health strategy across the NHS and the wider health sector, we’ve devised a collaborative calendar of conferences and events for industry leaders to listen, learn and collaborate through engaging and immersive conversation. 

All our conferences are CPD accredited, which means you can gain points to advance your career by attending our online conferences. Also, the contents are available on demand so you can re-watch at your convenience.

National Health Executive Podcast

Ep 42. Leadership in the NHS

In episode 42 of the National Health Executive podcast we were joined by Steve Gulati who is an associate professor at the University of Birmingham as well as director of healthcare leadership at the university’s Health Services Management Centre.