Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Supporting three hospitals
Pager replacement
messages reaching clinicians 25-30 seconds faster
trust-wide rollout in just 1.5 weeks following system failure
of staff using the new system every shift
Get an inside look at how Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (DBTH) replaced an outdated pager system on the brink of failure with Alertive, transforming urgent care communication across the Trust.
By December 2023, the legacy paging system that DBTH relied on was approaching end of life, creating an urgent need for replacement. The system had become increasingly unreliable, with frequent breakdowns including a partial failure on the day Alertive went live, raising serious concerns about communication reliability and patient safety as a result.
Message delivery was often slow, particularly during emergency situations. As a one way system, it provided no confirmation of receipt, leaving staff uncertain whether critical information had been received and when. Reliance on manual, paper based directories also introduced further inefficiencies and increased the risk of error, while the system’s lack of integration with modern digital clinical tools limited its effectiveness in a fast evolving healthcare environment.
DBTH implemented Alertive through a phased but accelerated rollout, prioritising urgent care communication.
In Phase 1 (3 months), DBTH:
Following a sudden failure of the legacy system after the emergency-first rollout, DBTH accelerated deployment across all departments:
Chief Clinical Information Officer
We had to very rapidly deploy… what we planned over months in about a week and a half.
Chief Nursing Information Officer
Alertive is so easy to use… new staff adapt quickly without needing extensive training
Adoption has been rapid and trust wide, growing to more than 2,600 users, with 76.92% of staff using Alertive every shift.
Communication is much faster, with messages now reaching clinicians a massive 25 to 30 seconds quicker than with the old system.
Reliability has been significantly strengthened too by leveraging multi-channel communication across Wi Fi, 4G, 5G, and SMS, ensuring that critical messages are delivered even in challenging connectivity environments. This has supported a stronger emergency response, with real time alerts enabling faster mobilisation and improved coordination during major incidents.
Workflows have also been modernised, with outdated paging and paper-based systems replaced to reduce delays, remove manual inefficiencies, and enable agile coordination across teams.
DBTH is building on its successful rollout with a focus on deeper integration and expanded use:
