New software to save £1.8m a year in Scottish NHS

A new software will be rolled out in NHS boards across Scotland over the next year to reduce hospital waiting times and enhance operating theatre efficiency.

The platform will now support all NHS Boards to increase productivity, remove paper processes, and reduce the overall administrative burden in the creation and approval of theatre lists, which can delay patient treatment.

Developed by clinician-led tech company Infix, the national theatre scheduling tool improved operating room efficiency by up to 25% and will result in approximately £1.8 million per year in financial savings.

“Better use of data and digital technology is critical to how we drive improvements in healthcare and is a key part of our plans to reform services,” said Scottish Health Secretary Neil Gray. “This technology is backed by more than five years’ worth of NHS operating times data and is just one of the initiatives that will help enable us to schedule 1.5 million procedures per year - while improving data quality to help safely increase productivity. This will help maximise capacity, build greater resilience and reduce waiting lists.”

He went on to note that reducing the administrative burden on staff will give them more time to spend on patient care, and was a “shining example of how we are embracing cutting edge tools to tackle the challenges facing health and social care”.

The contract was awarded as part of the Scottish Government’s drive to embrace digital and technology driven services to enhance health and social care, as outlined in Scotland’s Digital Health and Care Strategy and its supporting Delivery Plan, which was updated earlier this month.