Building a case for redundancy

Healthcare systems are often at risk of single point failure despite advances in system design and new technology.

According to Dr Chris Subbe, from Ybyty Gwynned in Wales, systems can be designed to cope with high risk of redundancies.

Speaking at VMIA’s symposium New Perspectives on the Deteriorating Patient, Dr Subbe said that many healthcare processes were based on single point information flows.

“In healthcare it is often one nurse talking to another nurse talking to a doctor – and if any one of these people is a bit tired, or a bit off-colour, and they miss a detail in a patient’s care, there is no coming back,” Dr Subbe said.

“If one part fails, the whole system almost breaks down.”

So what is the solution to reduce this risk? According to Dr Subbe, technology is being applied to many settings to address these issues, such as a recent trial where patient information was sent remotely to the nurses station and MET team in addition to being recorded in the patient’s room, ensuring that several ‘sets of eyes’ were exposed to the information.

To hear more from Dr Chris Subbe, click play on the video above.