SP5.03 Can you hear me now?: assessing the effectiveness of the communication system within a tertiary General Surgery department

Background/Aims Fast, secure, and effective communication within healthcare is essential for patient safety and staff wellbeing. Our University Teaching Hospital currently uses VOCERA, a wireless, handheld communication tool produced by Stryker (hardware and software). The device allows a user to call another named user or group with the touch of a button relying on the routing mechanism within the innate software. This tool can be worn under sterile gowns to facilitate calls during surgical procedures. This audit aims to assess the effectiveness of the routing mechanism to determine if this communication tool is fit for purpose. Methods An audit of 115 hours of calls received via VOCERA across 3 General Surgery on-call services (General, Vascular, Urology) was carried out. Results 330 calls were included in the audit, 225 (68%) of which were incorrectly directed to the end recipient. General Surgery received 212 calls over 48 hours, 143 (67%) incorrectly directed (1 call/20 minutes). Vascular received 83 calls over 39 hours, 79 (95%) incorrectly directed (1 call/30 minutes). Urology received 35 calls over 28 hours, 3 (9%) incorrectly directed. Conclusion VOCERA is currently an ineffective tool for connecting callers with surgical on-call teams leading to delays in communication for those placing the calls and frequent, unnecessary, and potentially dangerous disruptions for those receiving calls, especially while operating. An assessment of call routing within VOCERA software or consideration of other communication devices would be beneficial.