Nikki Kahllon

Please note this page was last updated in 2019. Visit Nikki’s LinkedIn profile for more information.

Nikki is a Programme Manager in Strategy Delivery at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust. Having successfully implemented digital solutions such as a Trust wide digitalised roster and real time safer staffing systems, Nikki firmly believes in digital transformation and the benefits of IT to enhance clinical services and patient care.

Previously Nikki managed a digital solution which allowed patients enhanced control of their care, by providing them access to their blood results and secure contact to specialised services. Patient feedback reinforced her belief in the empowerment that digital technology can provide.

Pioneering digital solutions, Nikki recognised a gap in patient information flow, IT allowed her to create an autotomized process in which accurate data gathering was achieved.

Digital Pioneer Fellowship project: Delivering an electronic bed reporting and monitoring system

Problem: The Emergency Department performance and the number of four hour wait breaches is impacted by many different factors with bed capacity being the key issue blocking patient flow.

Solution: The Emergency Department Transformation (EDT) programme includes various projects that are being delivered with the support of the NHSI Emergency Care Improvement Programme (ECIP) team to increase flow and improve performance, these include:

• Embedding the SAFER care bundle
• Embedding the Red to Green process at ward and board rounds.
• Improving the discharge process
• Ambulance Hand-overs

The project includes the design, build and implementation of the application from the Information team and the business change work stream to implement a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for keeping the system up to date (near real-time) and training the users in the system and the use of the display screens.

Desired impact: Nikki will deliver an electronic bed reporting and monitoring system to up to 32 locations around the Trust, this project will also deliver the hardware to run this solution.

This will benefit the Trust by:

• Reducing the four hour wait breaches by 1.88% in 2019/20 and 2.15% in 2020/21
• Improving data quality
• Positive impact on quality of reports derived from PAS data
• Enhancing decision support due to significantly improved visibility of patients within assessment areas
• Improving predictive planning capability
• Introduction of agile working

Progress to date: Nikki introduced a training strategy, launched an engagement campaign with the matrons, bed managers and site manager. They now have 32 wards live and are currently looking at expanding the project into a phase 2. In order to broaden diversity of the digital champions for this project, Nikki approached the Trust’s BAME network and also sent invites Trust-wide, rather than relying on nominations from senior management. In phase 2, they are looking at expanding the rollout cross site. Ahead of a formal evaluation, they are already noticing that the patient flow data is of a better quality, and identification of the beds, and their allocation is now done much quicker and sooner.