Jobs boost as Lichfield firm begins work on NHS critical care system
Lichfield firm Ascom is helping create 25 specialist IT jobs as it begins work on rolling out a national Critical Care Information System across NHS hospitals in Wales.
The jobs, 12 with Ascom and 13 with Digital Health & Care Wales (DHCW) are for a joint project team to fulfil the biggest ever single contract worldwide for Ascom, which operates in 15 countries.
Ascom’s Digistat clinical information system (CIS) will enable intensive care staff across Wales’ 14 standard adult critical care units to manage electronically many aspects of care.
Previously, just three of Wales’ units used electronic systems from other suppliers, while the remainder used paper records.
Among the new appointments to the project team are Nicola Duglan-John, a clinical consultant for Ascom, which has its UK headquarters at Wall Island in Shenstone, Lichfield.
Duglan-John, a nurse specialising in critical care, said: “I can’t wait to go back into the hospitals and help nurses learn how to use the Digistat system. As a nurse, you do your clinical work, then you are often staying behind for an hour to finish paperwork. It will be fantastic for ITU nurses to be able to document their work in real time on Digistat. Part of my job will be to understand how they work day-to-day, then relay that back to the Ascom team who are developing the system to meet their needs.”
Ascom UK managing director Paul Lawrence said: “We are very proud to have created so many highly specialised posts with Ascom, and our team is looking forward to partnering with DHCW to create the very best system possible for Wales’ critical care staff.”
The Ascom contract is for seven years with the option to extend for a further three years and includes the end-to-end implementation of Digistat through a managed service contract.
The technology will begin rolling out at The Grange University Hospital later this year, followed by a phased rollout to other units until 2023.
Around 10,000 people were admitted to Wales’ 198 intensive care beds in 2019.
