A NEW electronic bleeping system is being introduced at Warrington Hospital to help escalate requests for medical reviews of patients at night to the right member of staff at the right time.

iBleep will see doctors use smartphone technology to replace the traditional bleep system that ward nurses use to summon a review or action from a doctor out of hours.

The doctor gets a clear message on their smartphone using a special application which includes the nurse’s request and observations like the blood pressure and heart rate from the patient.

Tracy Mason, matron of the hospital’s acute care team, said: “Traditional bleep systems are an outdated way of calling doctors and prioritising staff.

“The nurse doesn’t know if the doctor they are bleeping is currently available or is with another patient or even in the operating theatre.

“iBleep allows us to prioritise each call and make sure that the right person is allocated to the right task at the right time.

“The doctors also get key information on the patient before they even arrive on the ward.

“It will greatly help the workload of our nurses and doctors and help us to ensure that care is delivered quickly.”

The Lovely Lane hospital has also introduced a new role of acute care practitioners who can perform many tasks that junior doctors have traditionally undertaken to free up doctors to focus on more serious cases.