Who this guidance is for

The guidance contained within this report is targeted at NHS CIOs and their network, estates and service managers, who may be responsible for defining, supporting and delivering IT strategies for RTLS across NHS trusts and other ICS organisations.

This report is based around maximising value for money and demonstrating how an RTLS solution may be approached, using existing connectivity wherever possible, whilst recognising the impact of RTLS and increasing future digital demand that will be placed on networks. 

Whether the trust is planning for an RTLS solution, currently implementing a solution in a phased approach or already benefitting from standalone solutions, the information provided in this report should be informative and serve as a base for further actions and decision making.

This guidance considers different NHS environments and the potential benefits of RTLS in each. For example, would the recommended approach for RTLS in a large hospital be the same as in a modern GP surgery or building of older construction, as well as suggesting key recommendations and actions for health organisations looking to implement RTLS technologies moving forward.

As multiple suppliers and many different equipment providers make up the NHS estate, consideration has been given to integration with existing infrastructure and systems and use of open standards, data security, privacy and GDPR.

Over time RTLS has become an umbrella term and had its definition expanded to include most IT location services technologies in use today. These technologies are necessarily wireless based, use the radio frequency spectrum and have traditionally leaned heavily on well-known wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

The main criteria for defining what RTLS solution is required are:

• what are you trying to locate, where, and to what accuracy?
• what current infrastructure is in place to help provide an RTLS solution?
• who will benefit from RTLS?
• who will maintain and manage the RTLS solution?

Applying RTLS to a large hospital site or campus can have an immediate and a largely positive impact for clinical and clerical staff as well as patients and visitors.

Clinical staff can use RTLS to quickly locate important pieces of medical equipment such as IV pumps, heart monitors and wheelchairs. Clerical staff can look at the historical movement of beds and the workforce to design better, more efficient processes. Patients and visitors can use wayfinding applications to navigate around large hospital sites to attend appointments and locate utilities.

Tracking of people either for workflow management analysis or patient tracking is mentioned as a secondary application of RTLS and is not the focus of this guidance.