Thermal camera enables Eye Outpatients team to safely see more patients throughout the pandemic
Our Eye Outpatients team at Royal Derby Hospital have been able to safely see more patients over the last few months – thanks to a high-tech piece of equipment that can detect one of the symptoms of Covid-19.
A state-of-the-art thermal body imaging camera was kindly donated to the Trust midway through the pandemic and has been installed at the Eye Outpatients entrance in the Kings Treatment Centre to identify anyone who has a high temperature.
The camera, which was donated by Dahua Technology in partnership with WRS Solutions, is able to quickly and accurately measure the temperature of a patient or colleague from 3 metres away, so as to allow more people with sight-threatening conditions to receive urgent, face-to-face care.
Screening patients in this way has allowed Eye Outpatients to maintain a continued, but reduced, service throughout Covid-19, with the system quickly alerting staff if a patient has a high temperature, so that they can be checked again and then isolated safely, if required.
Only 976 patients were seen in Eye Outpatients throughout April 2020 but, after installing the camera and utilising additional space in the Eye Clinic at London Road Community Hospital, attendance numbers increased to 2,900 throughout July 2020.
On top of this, having the thermal body imaging camera available has resulted in a reduction in the use of both disposable temperature checking equipment and PPE that would have otherwise been used while conducting the checks.
A designated floor walker has also been allocated to manage the flow of patients through the department safely and efficiently using a one-way system and we are pleased to say that this has led to some extremely positive feedback from patients.
On behalf of #TeamUHDB, we’d like to say a huge thank you to Dahua Technology and WRS Solutions for their donation.