Part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, it has replaced its bedside units with ones that run a range of entertainment apps as well as engagement and translation services.
Stepping Hill Hospital, part of Stockport NHS Foundation Trust, has replaced its bedside units with devices that run a range of information, engagement, communications and productivity apps, to demonstrate the potential of digital technology in the NHS.
The hospital, which looks after a population of 350,000 people in Greater Manchester, has replaced its Hospedia bedside units with Spark Fusion Bedside Units running the new infotainment platform.
It is the first lighthouse deployment of the platform in the UK and will give patients access to a greater range of entertainment, information and communications services.
“The Hospedia entertainment solution has remained largely unchanged for the last 10 years and is very limited in what it provides to patients,” said Peter Hughes, chief technology officer at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.
The new system, he said, has not only provided a wider array of entertainment options for patients, means that the Trust can deliver targeted information and leverage other digital capabilities, including translation services and meal ordering.
Translation services
Spark TSL is a provider of wifi to retail outlets, transport and conference venues, but it has developed a specialisation in healthcare since it started working with a large London trust in 2005.
In 2020, it became part of the Volaris Group, which acquired legacy bedside unit provider Hospedia the following year. In 2024, it acquired Sentean Group, which developed the Fusion platform that is already proven in 40% of hospitals in the Netherlands.
The system keeps patients entertained by giving them access to a wide range of television, radio, and magazine content, telephone calls and chat. It also supports a wide range of apps, thanks to its adoption of international integration and messaging standards.
The functionality already available also includes translation, so patients can communicate effectively with their clinicians, modern nurse call, so patients can indicate their needs and the right person can acknowledge and meet them, and a food ordering app, so patients can choose meals that meet their dietary requirements.
“With an eye on the near-term future and our electronic patient record programme, the ability to leverage devices at the bedside will absolutely improve the availability of the patient record – and potentially dispense with the need for laptops/PCs on trolleys and a wide array of tablets for staff to access various digital systems,” said Hughes.
At Stepping Hill, the platform will be installed on 500 new devices and bedside units, covering all of the traditional ward spaces in the 740-bed hospital.
