Imperial and Allocate Software collaborate on safer staffing tools

Imperial has signed a deal with Allocate, a rostering software provider, to make proven patient acuity models available through SafeCare®.

Imperial College London has signed a deal with Allocate, a rostering software provider, to make available a range of proven patient acuity methodologies through a widely used NICE Endorsed software platform, SafeCare®.

Patient acuity refers to the level of care required by patients in hospital. Assessments of patient acuity are widely used to help make evidence-based decisions about staffing levels in hospital wards. The suite of methodologies to be licensed to Allocate were developed to help NHS hospitals manage staffing levels and include the NICE-endorsed Adult Inpatient Ward SNCT (Safer Nursing Care Tool®) and the Mental Health Optimal Staffing Tool (MHOST®).

Allocate Software’s SafeCare is safer staffing technology and part of the HealthRoster Optima e-rostering platform used widely throughout the NHS. Together they match the available daily staffing level to patient acuity. It is designed to increase patient safety while maintaining efficiency and helps inform professional judgement based decision making to be taken at various levels of management.

Incorporating the SNCTs and MHOST methodologies into SafeCare combines tools already in common use in the NHS to create a comprehensive solution aimed at making evidence-based decisions on staffing in a range of adult, paediatric, and mental health settings. For example, combining SafeCare with the Adult Inpatient Ward SNCT which is a NICE-endorsed, evidence-based tool, enables the respective hospital wards to have the right amount of staff per shift based on actual needs of patients.

These methodology tools are currently supplied by Imperial College Innovations Limited, a commercial subsidiary of the College, to a range of customers globally. In future, NHS customers in the UK will be able to access the tools through SafeCare or continue to use the tools as provided through Imperial.

Paul Scandrett, Director of Healthcare, Allocate, said: “We are thrilled to have completed this agreement and investment with Imperial College Innovations as the first of its kind in the UK. Individually SafeCare and SNCT have become critical tools to help Trusts managing safer staffing, particularly key as organisations face staffing gaps. We look forward to working together with Imperial College Innovations to help deliver the very best solutions to our customers”.

Manish Patel, Head of NHS Technology Transfer, Imperial College London said: “This is an excellent deal for the NHS and Allocate, allowing for web-based modules of SNCTs and MHOST in SafeCare. The aim for all parties in this venture is to help improve services in healthcare organisations.”

In a supplement to the deal, the team from Imperial are also working with Allocate, on an independent basis through Imperial Consultants, to conduct quality assurance in ensuring the SNCT and MHOST methodologies are accurately incorporated into SafeCare.

Imperial College Innovations Limited is a company wholly-owned by Imperial College London. It acts on behalf of College in transactions related to intellectual property, manages Imperial intellectual property, and provides related services to select third parties. It incorporates Imperial’s NHS Technology Transfer unit, which works with NHS trusts across London to provide technology transfer services.

Allocate is a workforce and patient safety technology provider and the UK’s largest provider of e-rostering software for health and social care. Its flagship safe staffing software, SafeCare, is used extensively by NHS organisations across the UK. Allocate is owned by RLDatix, the leading provider of governance, risk and compliance technology for healthcare.