Award-Winning NHS Hospital Installs BigHand Dictation Software Trustwide

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has chosen BigHand digital dictation software as its trustwide solution to cover 450 users, including all specialities, to further enhance its ability to deliver first-class patient care.

After a thorough investigation into replacing its analogue tape system, Airedale recognized the importance of implementing and delivering a digital solution that would allow the facility to prioritize dictations and share dictations between secretaries to improve document turnaround times. Ease of use was a significant deciding factor in opting to use BigHand but, critically, BigHand has enabled Airedale NHS Foundation Trust to generate a tangible return on investment by reducing the need for temporary staff through streamlining the workflow of secretaries and enabling a visible workload, giving secretaries the option to manage their work more effectively.

“As a clinician I have really appreciated the simplicity and functionality of the BigHand program; from start to finish it is doing just what we need in helping to improve the service we deliver to our patients on a daily basis," said Richard Pope, consultant physician and director of innovation at Airedale NHS Foundation Trust. "I know our secretarial teams have taken to it with great enthusiasm; dictations can now be delivered automatically and instantly from clinics to medical secretaries, giving a smooth flow of work and more manageable workloads. BigHand does exactly what it promised.”

Airedale NHS Foundation Trust now becomes the third NHS Trust to rollout BigHand software trustwide in the NHS Yorkshire and Humber region, following The Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust .

BigHand digital dictation has been identified as a key tool in assisting trust’s save money and increase the efficiency of clinicians and medical secretaries. Other NHS Trusts that have already invested in BigHand technology include The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust, The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, Basildon & Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.