A Healing Touch

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Working with the UK’s National Health Service, UK kiosk solutions company Protouch recently created a network of interactive patient check-in and information service stations at seven different locations throughout the Royal Surrey County Hospital in England.
 
This busy, multi-departmental hospital which needs to efficiently serve patients with a large diversity of abilities and ethnicities meant a carefully planned self service solution would be the ideal solution for streamlining outpatient services, improving customer satisfaction and maximising departmental efficiency.
 
The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust required an interactive system that would allow autonomous patient check-in and registration as well as the ability to access appointment information and update demographic information.  This multi-lingual service also allows follow up and referral appointment booking.
 

Seven Protouch Allure interactive touch screens and X5 Kiosks were deployed across the Royal Surrey County Hospital complex, creating a network of 27 self service units with a centralised reception service, which immediately allowed patients to check-in for treatment.  
 
 
Following the installation, 85% of appointments have been booked in at the kiosks, with both patients and the Outpatient Services Team reporting satisfaction with the solution’s ease of use. The company will be rolling out similar technology at five further locations, and various other NHS Trusts are actively reviewing implementing similar systems.
 
 
An analysis was also conducted comparing the effectiveness and suitability of the kiosks with an iPad based solution, with the kiosks out-performing the competition. The Royal Surrey County Hospital NHS Trust also estimates that up to £80,000 has been saved during the kiosks’ first year of use, by managing appointments more effectively.