Article

Scottish National Health Service checks-in hospital kiosks

Scotland's NHS inks £1 million in contracts for hospital kiosks, software and queue-management digital signage.

June 4, 2014

The Scottish National Health Service has awarded two separate framework contracts for hospital kiosks and software to U.K.-based Intouch with Health and to Spain’s Tecnologias Plexus. Owned by the government, the NHS administers the public healthcare system in the U.K.

The estimated final value of the four-year framework contracts for the patient self-service check-in kiosks and patient calling systems is £1 million ($1.68 million) plus Value-added Tax.

“That figure is an estimate of value over the four years of the framework,” an NHS Scotland spokesperson told Kiosk Marketplace. “It is not a guaranteed spend or a value base on known plans by the various NHS Health Boards in Scotland.”

According to the NHS Scotland procurement information website, the framework agreements with Intouch with Health and Tecnologias Plexus last until March 2018.

“Intouch with Health is supplying kiosks, outpatient flow management software and digital signage for patient calling, all together with the most appropriate systems integration, to the NHS Health Boards in Scotland,” Gordon Lorimer, Intouch with Health’s managing director, told Kiosk Marketplace by email. “Intouch is delighted to have been selected by NHS National Services Scotland after a thorough evaluation and we look forward to the opportunity to work with Health Boards to prove the Intouch difference in Scotland.”

Tecnologias Plexus, which is on the NHS framework agreement independent of Intouch, develops kiosks and sells software that is broadly similar to that from Intouch.

“To date, only NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde has signed a contract based on the framework,” the NHS Scotland spokesperson said. “NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde has a contract with Tecnologias Plexus worth approximately £100,000, and work has already started on this. Other Scottish NHS Boards haven’t made use of the framework yet, but it is early days in promoting it. Under the framework, the companies can supply all hardware, software and services related to patient self-service check-in and patient-calling in the secondary care environment.”

NHS Scotland said on the European Union’s TED website that it has a requirement for integrated patient self-service check-in and patient calling/flow management systems in acute settings. “For example, the implementation of automated patient check-in facilities and patient calling technologies is proposed for high-volume outpatient clinic areas,” it said. “Automated check-in is a solution which allows patients to check themselves into clinics by confirming their attendance without having to use a staffed reception desk, while patient flow management allows Health Board staff to direct patients to pre-clinic assessment areas and clinics without direct patient contact. This approach is already successfully used in GP (general practitioner) doctors’ practices and has proven to be effective in other NHS acute areas across the U.K.”

NHS Scotland said it will establish a multi-supplier framework based on the requirements of NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde which will be “available to other NHS Scotland Health Boards with similar requirements to create a contract after minicompetition or direct call-off.”