Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust
Supporting three hospitals
Pager replacement
urgent response times reduced from over 4 minutes to just over 2 minutes
up to 3 hours saved per shift for some staff groups
reduction in average response times
Looking to move away from fragmented communication methods and improve clinical responsiveness, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust implemented Alertive to enable secure, real time coordination across teams.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust identified significant inefficiencies in how staff communicated across the organisation. Reliance on bleeps, alongside increasing use of social messaging channels, created delays, interruptions, and potential risks around information governance.
Staff frequently struggled to identify the correct person to contact, with a significant proportion of calls simply spent trying to locate the appropriate responder. Incorrectly directed bleeps were common, and nearly a quarter of these interrupted critical clinical tasks.
Audit data reinforced the scale of the issue. Communication was identified as a contributing factor in nearly 70% of incidents reported through Datix. Messages usually lacked sufficient context, requiring follow up calls that introduced further delays and frustration.
Implementation focused on replacing fragmented workflows with a structured, role based communication model. Staff could instantly identify the correct individual or team through a live directory and send alerts directly to those responsible, removing the need for switchboard routing or repeated calls.
Previously, these processes could take anywhere from a few minutes to nearly an hour, involving multiple steps such as identifying contacts, placing calls, waiting for responses, and repeating attempts. Alertive reduced this to a streamlined workflow where alerts are raised, delivered, acknowledged, and responded to within minutes, supported by clear response options and real time visibility.
The platform also introduced secure messaging, read receipts, and the ability to communicate with individuals or groups, ensuring information was shared accurately and efficiently without unnecessary interruption.
Chief Nursing Information Officer
With Alertive, you can directly message somebody or a group, and it’s instantaneous. The person receiving the message can see exactly what you need, which saves a considerable amount of time.
Chief Clinical Information Officer
Alertive has become so much more than a bleep replacement. By connecting our entire team—including service managers, administrators, and switchboard staff—Alertive has transformed patient flow and made communication faster and more efficient.
Response times for urgent requests improved significantly, falling from just over four minutes to just over two minutes. Staff reported substantial time savings across all roles, with many gaining back up to an hour per shift and some reporting savings of several hours. These efficiencies translated into improved patient flow and faster care delivery, with some patients discharged earlier as a result of quicker coordination and decision making.
All communication is securely recorded and auditable, strengthening information governance and accountability while allowing the Trust to review activity, understand workflows, and continuously improve processes.
Building on early success, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust is further embedding Alertive into everyday clinical workflows.
Future priorities include increasing adoption across additional teams, using data insights to optimise processes, and reducing administrative burden through more efficient coordination of care.
