SOLOPROTECT HELPS HEALTHCARE AT HOME PRIORITISE NURSES’ SAFETY

One of the UK’s foremost independent nursing companies, Healthcare At Home, has put the welfare of its nurses at the heart of its health and safety policy by purchasing Identicom units as part of the SoloProtect best-of-breed protection service. Now nurses working across the UK have peace of mind knowing that they are being monitored in potentially hazardous situations and can discreetly summon help if they are threatened.

Healthcare At Home had tried other lone worker services but found them unreliable and complicated and, as a result, the nurses were not using them. Following an investigation of alternative lone worker packages, Bridget Harrison, Head of Nursing and Clinical Governance, selected SoloProtect.

“Our nurses are working day and night and often visit patients in isolated and inner city locations”, said Bridget Harrison. “As our nurses regularly travel alone, often after dark, this can be a dangerous time for them. Feedback on Identicom from our nurses has been very positive as they find it discreet and easy to use.”

Implementing SoloProtect has provided Healthcare At Home with numerous benefits. Users have welcomed the discreet operation of Identicom, which has reduced their risk when operating outside office hours. In addition SoloProtect’s incident ownership has reduced the administrative burden for Managers.

Established in 1992, Healthcare At Home specialises in providing services for chemotherapy, intravenous antibiotics, blood transfusions and other complex therapies in the patient’s own home. Last year the company’s nurses made 75,000 visits to over 5,000 patients. The front-line of Healthcare at Home is its team of nurses who are based in 17 regional centres throughout the country. Once treatment has begun its nurses are on call 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

Karen MacRae, a Nursing Manager in Newcastle said: “I travel between Berwick-Upon-Tweed, Cockermouth and Whitby seeing between one and four patients a day. I am also responsible for the nurses in my area. Now we have peace of mind knowing that we can manage our own safety and quickly summon help if it is needed”.

SoloProtect combines Identicom, the market leading lone worker protection device, with the UK’s highest standard 24/7 manned monitoring service from a Police approved, BS5979 Category ll receiving centre. SoloProtect provides quality training for each user and, because the solution includes SIM and airtime, it is available as an ‘easy to manage’ monthly fixed fee. Identicom from SoloProtect is used by thousands of lone workers throughout the UK.

When an employee feels they are entering a hazardous situation, they press an amber alert button that notifies the monitoring centre. In this way, the monitoring centre is able to note the user’s location and raise the alarm if the amber alert is not cancelled within a predetermined period. If the red alert is then pressed the centre’s support staff can discreetly listen in to what is happening and make an assessment as to the level of support required – involving the police if necessary. In the event of a verbal confrontation, the centre can also record the conversation for future action. Ends