Patients praise new electronic information screens

Sponsored electronic information screens that were installed in three locations around the Trust in March this year have been a hit with patients.

The large plasma screens—located in Children’s Outpatients, the Antenatal Clinic and next to the M-PALS office—aim to improve the quality of information available to patients, visitors and staff.

They also benefit the Trust financially because we receive a percentage of the sponsorship revenue.

There is no cost to the Trust because we are working with a commercial partner, the Healthcare Messaging Group, who pay for the screens, secure sponsorship and design the messages that appear on the screens—with input from Trust staff.

The installation of the first three screens is a pilot scheme and the Trust is now actively exploring the possibility of placing more screens in other areas.

A range of health messages are included on the screens and some targeted information for parents of children and pregnant women is featured on the screens in Children’s Outpatients and the Antenatal Clinic respectively.

According to the results of a recent survey of parents in Children’s Outpatients and pregnant women in the Antenatal Clinic, the screens are proving popular:

• 80% of parents and 77% of pregnant women said they found the screens a useful source of information
• 77% of parents and 83% of pregnant women said the screens improved their experience of the hospital
• The messages that most parents and pregnant women remembered seeing on the screens related to the reputation of the Trust—for example, Chelsea and Westminster is rated by the Care Quality Commission among the top 10% of NHS hospitals in the country

Matt Akid, Head of Communications, said: “Our partnership with the Healthcare Messaging Group is a positive initiative because it has enabled us to improve our communication with patients and visitors to the hospital.

“We have involved frontline clinical staff in developing messages tailored to the areas in which we have installed the screens to ensure they are relevant to our patients.”