Q&A with Ade Odunlade, Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Utilising RwHealth’s insights at Multi Agency Discharge Events to improve patient flow and recognise and unblock delays.

Q: How long have you been working with RwHealth?

I have worked with RwHealth for maybe four years now, including previously at Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, so I’ve seen the development of analytics in mental health. The more challenges and the more questions we throw at RwHealth, the more they rise up to the challenge and become even better.

Q: What value has it brought to the team?

It has brought a new dimension to the way we work. It’s a way of having communication with patients – having them look at the data with us, and also contributing and co-producing solutions with us.

We’re also able to use RwHealth’s predictions to accurately provide resources and better understand how our services are performing. A lot of people think that managing performance can be quite scary but I think it’s something to embrace. Data that tells you what’s going on acts as encouragement for a lot of staff – they can see how well they are doing, what they can do more of, or do differently.

Q: What immediate benefits has RwHealth brought?

RwHealth gives us a full overview of flow within the system, where we need to take actions, and how we can tweak and influence the flow to give patients a better service. This is an integral part of managing waiting lists and understanding how services are shaped.

It has given us the opportunity to understand variations in services, what those are and why they exist.

It gives us complete oversight in terms of governance too. We can gain great insight into our day-to-day work; it provides the basis of engaging conversation and it does that by using facts, rather than fiction.

Q: How has RwHealth helped with Multi Agency Discharge Events (MADE)?

MADE means putting an emphasis on discharge issues, understanding them better and then bringing in stakeholders to do an in-depth analysis of what is actually causing the delays to discharge. RwHealth has helped us ensure that we all work together in an informed way to try and unblock this problem.

RwHealth’s system has enabled us to see the blockages and make sure, as an organisation, that we have the right care, at the right time, in the right place.

Q: Do you have any key examples you’d like to share?

I have to say, all of RwHealth’s work has been impactful and supportive to how we run the services. The insight and the analytics we get help to provide better support for staff and patients. It helps us understand who is in a bed, what patient category they are, how long they are staying, which day of the week is most problematic, and why there are delays.