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Profile and Approach
Lancashire Teaching Hospitals are situated at two locations, in the city of Preston and in Chorley Borough. Preston has 129,000 inhabitants and lies in the centre of the north-western region of England (www.visitnorthwest.com). It is about 3.5 hours from London by train. The hospital is responsible for the general health care of 390,000 people in Chorley, Preston, South Ribble and parts of the Ribble Valley. It is also responsible for the specialist care of 1.5 million people in Lancashire en South Cumbria.It treats over 300,000 outpatients and 150,000 inpatients each year. The Preston site is the regional centre for cancer and renal treatments. Lancashire Teaching Hospitals cater to patients in a wide area. Any patient, employee or visitor without a car has trouble getting to the hospitals. This is a problem especially for those who live in the country. What's more, the available travel information is unclear. For many visitors, this is a reason to come by car. The hospitals, however, have a shortage of parking spaces. Another problem is the long distance visitors must cover on the hospital grounds. Much transport takes place between the various hospital facilities. Finally, the appointment system does not work properly when making several appointments on the same day. The Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is a working partner in the project.
 Display real time information in the reception area
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Approach
The project is user-driven and will integrate travel planning with the widespread reform agenda brought in under the National Health Service (NHS) 10 year plan. Electronic patient records are a key part of the national plan and their introduction is an opportunity for OPTIMUM² in Lancashire to integrate a personalised travel planning into the appointment making process. It will mean that travel options will be presented to the patient at the point of need.OPTIMUM2 will integrate with the results of Lancashire’s other e-government initiatives and develop and innovative web based Travel Management System. The success of the project will be enhanced by a dedicated marketing plan and measurable campaign. These ‘smart’ measures will improve employee involvement and awareness and the project will also exploit innovation in the form of a ‘real time’ bus information display installed in the hospital foyer. A shuttle bus is in operation between the two hospital sites. The problems faced by Lancashire Teaching Hospitals Trust are not unique to our region or indeed to the UK. Creating a synergy between the appointment booking process undertaken by clinicians and medical administrators on one hand and the operations managers and transport providers on the other – is a challenge for many European hospitals.
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