For a very long time, community phlebotomy staff at Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust have struggled with writing big amounts of information by hand on very small blood bottles - the patient's surname, forename, date of birth and so on. There's only a 1cm gap for the ten-digit NHS number, and it is a real struggle if the patient has a double-barrelled name.
While working out how to help a member of staff with dyslexia, managers realised how specialised printers could help ALL staff.
The results have included: more accurate data - with fewer blood samples being rejected by the laboratory; reduced staff stress levels; increased productivity; and more time to spend with patients.
We made a video about the project:
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The phlebotomy team won the Trust's annual award for innovation, and are sharing what they learned with colleagues from other teams.
