WWL NHS Foundation Trust

Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh (WWL) NHS Foundation Trust turned to healthcare digital signage specialist Saturn to design and deploy a screen network across three sites within an ambitious two week window.

While comparable installations typically take between six to eight weeks to complete, Saturn worked with the Trust to ensure as swift a turn-around as possible in order to meet business deadlines.

“Time was of the essence and we needed to select a suitable partner fast,” said WWL’s employee. “We were impressed by Saturn’s digital signage expertise and their pedigree of clientele but it was their healthcare and public sector experience that ultimately won out. The team clearly empathised with the particular challenges of an NHS scheme - from the initial budget implications through to overseeing an already tight installation with limited site access due to the sensitivities surrounding patient needs.”

Saturn was awarded the £100K project following a successful pilot. Though the Trust had previously used digital signage on a much smaller scale, the fresh content and locality of the proposed network was immediately well received by staff and patients alike. Working closely with WWL’s estates team to project manage the deployment, large 40”, 46” and 52” digital signage screens were strategically installed in high dwell areas – including the hospital’s state-of-the-art outpatients centre. Content includes wayfinding signage as well as the latest Trust news, details of infection control initiatives and general announcements displayed on the latest NEC screens with in-built PC technology and managed by Saturn’s scalable Connectvision software.

“Information sharing is integral to our status as a Foundation Trust and we’re committed to developing clear lines of communication with our staff and the 300,000 plus people we serve across the Borough,” said WWL employee. “Digital signage offers us a dynamic means to engage our public and with Saturn’s guidance we’re constantly looking at new ways to harness the technology by making incremental changes to the content we deliver.”

“The tangible benefits we’ve seen since deploying the solution is testament to Saturn’s expertise and the possibilities that digital signage presents as an effective communications channel. Indeed, the response has been such that we’re now in talks about rolling-out a second phase project aimed at our internal stakeholders.”

Wrightington, Wigan & Leigh NHS Trust is currently working alongside its IT department to facilitate the impending installation of Saturn’s Connectvision Screensaver software, which will allow rich media content to be scheduled, targeted and published direct to the Trust’s 3,000 existing desktop PCs. This works by displaying the desired messaging as a dynamic looping sequence every time a PC goes into screensaver mode and has already been successfully used by several NHS Trusts, including The University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT), which was awarded ‘Best Internal Communications’ by The Association of Healthcare Communicators (AHC) in 2009.

“Healthcare is one of the fastest growing areas for digital signage,” said Saturn’s CEO, Chris Welsh. “Trusts recognise that there’s a growing expectation for them to openly communicate with their public in a more meaningful way. Patients demand a particular level of patient care and the provision of timely, topical and insightful information plays a part in their overall experience. Similarly, digital signage can make a positive contribution to staff communications by helping to counteract the feeling of fragmentation that is often caused by shift patterns and changing teams working across many different departments.”

“Within weeks WWL NHS Trust has already reaped the rewards of investing in the delivery of dynamic, multimedia content – rather than relying on emails, posters and dry information leaflets to get the right messages, to the right audiences at the right time. Moving forward we will be closely monitoring the impact of the large screen and screensaver solution operating in tandem and look forward to working with the team to maximise their new network.”