Even in modern hospitals, the primary communication system between patient and nurse is a button for the patient and a bell for the nurse, that can mean anything. It cannot distinguish between a patient’s needs which can vary from a glass of water, to situations of life and death. This leads to staffing inefficiency, extra stress on carers at capacity and loss of life in extreme instances. The Prince of Wales Hospital has the leading spinal unit in Australia. It has over 50 beds dedicated to treating patients with conditions including paraplegia and quadriplegia. For these patients the simple act of hitting a button is beyond their physical ability. Our challenge was to bring the alert system into the 21st century, to improve the brand experience of the Prince of Wales hospital, give spinal patients the ability to request help and decrease the time it takes nurses to respond.

Lucy is now live in the Prince of Wales Spinal Unit for the first 28 patients. In a world first, patients are using the system to request help from nurses – without having to press a button. Instead using only their voice. How it works: Patients speak their request for assistance Lucy. AI interprets the request – enabling patients to operate rooms with connected smart devices, book appointments and request assistance. Where possible, Lucy answers the question immediately from a FAQ database. Patients receive immediate confirmation that their request has been received. Requests are assigned priority and smart-routed to nurses or support teams. Alert messages are sent to directly to right team members' mobile device, requesting them to respond to the patient. Tasks can be moved between teams and assigned by dragging and dropping on their mobile device. Data capture predicts trends in patient needs and workforce management.