Digital smart nursecall and infant tracking solutions will be implemented as part of the development of a new maternity and child health hospital in Bournemouth.

In partnership with electrical contractor, W Portsmouth & Co, Ascom has been awarded the contract to supply and install healthcare communication technology to the BEACH (Births, Emergency care, And Critical care and child Health) building at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.  

The 23,000sq m, six-storey facility will provide a new maternity unit, children’s unit, enhanced emergency department, a 30-bed capacity critical care unit, and a purpose-designed pathology hub and will make the Royal Bournemouth Hospital the major emergency hospital for Dorset.

Planned to open in Autumn 2024, the BEACH Building forms part of a £250m transformation by the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust. 

As part of the development, Ascom will provide its end-to-end digital smart nurse call solution to the project, including Myco 3 smartphones with mobile attack alarm software and near-real-time location tracking, in addition to fixed panic attack alarm technology. 

An infant tracking system will also be installed.

Working via an infant safe tag, which has anti-tamper technology, staff will be able to monitor the movements of all babies.

And the tracking system, which is RF and Wi-Fi enabled, will be integrated within the CCTV and security doors of the hospital.

David Walters, senior account manager for Ascom, said: “When it’s completed, the emergency department alone at the BEACH Building will be larger than the current facilities in Poole and at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital combined.

“It’s a huge project in scale and ambition – its footprint will be the equivalent of 115 tennis courts.

“And the technology that will be used at BEACH is state of the art, helping with clinical decision making, workflow, and the security of both staff and patients.”

Ascom and W. Portsmouth & Co. previously worked together on a project at Chase Farm Hospital in Enfield, part of the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust.

John Harper, director of W.Portsmouth & Co, said: “We look forward to delivering another innovative project with Ascom for the NHS – a partnership which keeps going from strength to strength.”

The main contractor for the BEACH Building at The Royal Bournemouth Hospital is Integrated Health Projects (IHP), a joint venture between VINCI Construction UK and Sir Robert McAlpine.