BRACKNELL, UK, 25TH APRIL, 2012
A new electronic food ordering and management system is set to revolutionise mealtimes on hospital wards. Trialled at Birmingham Children’s Hospital and now being rolled out across the Trust, the system uses Panasonic Toughbooks and a Birmingham Children’s Hospital concept that has been developed as a software application named ‘Maple’.

Unable to find a software application suitable for hospital use for electronic food ordering, the Trust commissioned Birmingham specialist software application developer Ambinet to design the comprehensive Maple solution.

The Ambinet development team shadowed the process used by the people involved from patient, ward staff, clinical staff (Dieticians) and Sodexo (Food service provider) – this was a learning cycle which the developers used to understand what happened manually and what was required of the software system.

The hospital also reviewed suitable hardware for the application and quickly settled on the Panasonic Toughbook CF-H1 medical clinical assistant tablet.

Meal times made simple
Nurses can add patients to the system as they arrive on the ward. When it comes to food ordering for the day, the menu is available on the Toughbook tablet device. The nurse can either hand the tablet to the patient for them to make their choices or make the order for them at the bedside.

All menu options are displayed in a visual image format. Patients use the touchscreen device to work their way through the menu, viewing the meal options, any allergy information and a full description of the meal, and making their choices by tapping on the order button. Once the order has been completed, the tablet can be handed back to the nurse and is ready for the next patient.

Nurses can review all orders, add any specific dietary notes or instructions as required and send the orders electronically to the kitchen at their convenience, individually or in batches.

Nurses are then able to use the device to track or update orders throughout the day. Even if a patient has to move wards during the day, the nurse simply updates the patient status on the device and their meal delivery details are automatically changed to ensure the patient receives their food on the new ward.

From a patient’s viewpoint, as well as ordering food, the devices are also used for patient satisfaction surveys on the quality of the food provided.

Dietician involvement
Hospital dieticians can access the application on the ward, or remotely from other areas in the hospital, to assist their patients. The dietary choices of the patient can be reviewed and analysed, as each menu choice contains details on its ingredients and calorific value. Dieticians can also specify special diets and menu choices for individual patients as required.

In the Main Production Kitchen, orders and updates are received in realtime and chefs can refer to special notes or dietician requests when they are preparing each meal.

For the Trust, catering information and financial reports are now available at the touch of the button, as each meal and their ingredients are automatically tracked by the application, including any wastage and the cost of these actions.

Benefits throughout the system
For the child patients the system makes it visual and fun to order their meals, which encourages them to eat, sometimes a major issue in children’s hospitals.

For nurses the new Maple system means less time filling in paperwork and running backwards and forwards to the Main Production Kitchen and more time on the ward with patients.

For the Dieticians, it makes it easier to prescribe, manage and record patient dietary information for the good of the patient.

For the Main Production Kitchen and Trust it delivers a more transparent and efficient catering service, potentially enabling significant cash savings.

The system, which also has messages in six different languages, has been trialed on two wards at the hospital over a 3-month period and now is being rolled out to the other 15 wards across the hospital.

Toughbook CF-H1 designed for life on a busy ward
The Panasonic Toughbook CF-H1 mobile clinical assistant has been designed for use on busy hospital wards. The visual display is clear and bright and the touchscreen display is ideal for easy use by patients and medical staff alike.

The CF-H1 is also very easy for staff and patients to carry, use and hold in one hand because of its integrated handle, lightweight design and long battery life. And lastly, the CF-H1 has been designed specifically for medical use, so it is easy to clean and disinfect to meet Hospital Safety Certifications and is tough enough to stand up to 90cm drops and the day-to-day exposure of life on a busy hospital ward.

At Birmingham, the devices run Windows 7 to make the touchscreen display easy to use and they transfer information over the hospital’s Wi-Fi network.

This innovation is the first touch screen, patient centered, automated food ordering system of its kind within the NHS. Once the implementation has been completed a full case study will be issued outlining the process followed and benefits.