NHS community trust cuts hospital stays with digital patient flow

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust has reported improvements in patient flow following the first phase of a digital transformation programme.

The programme is helping services move patients through care and support the transfer of patients from acute hospitals into community services by improving the visibility of discharge planning and bed availability across seven community hospitals.

This has been supported by Alcidion’s Miya Precision platform, which provides visibility of patient flow within community hospital services and supports more effective discharge planning.

The trust reports that the average patient length of hospital stay reduced by around five days (more than 15%) between March 2025 and March 2026, alongside improvements in discharge planning and fewer estimated discharge date breaches.

Marisa Manning, deputy associate director at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health, said: “We want patients to spend the least amount of time in hospital that is clinically appropriate, supporting their wellbeing and enabling them to return home safely.

“By providing staff with clear and accessible information in a fast-paced care environment, teams can better plan discharges and quickly identify whether medication, transport and onward care arrangements are in place.

“Operational leaders also now have greater visibility of patient flow across wards, enabling teams to coordinate care more effectively and address potential delays earlier.”

During the first phase of the programme, wards introduced Miya Flow digital journey boards configured to reflect the trust’s community care pathways.

Discharge information such as transport arrangements, social care provision, take-home medications and destination details, is now presented in a single view for staff, enabling them to identify potential delays earlier.

Jane Howells, digital PMO manager at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health, said: “Working closely with Alcidion, we have configured the technology to reflect the way our services operate.

“Digital tools supporting patient flow are helping reduce administrative burden and support clinicians to spend more time focusing on patient care.”

The trust has entered the second phase of the programme in mid 2025, introducing Miya Command, which provides a live view of bed capacity, discharge activity and patient flow across services.

Karen Hancocks, senior IT business analyst at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health, said: “Digital tools that support patient flow help teams respond more effectively during periods of increased demand.

“For example, winter pressures create additional bed demands, making this an imperative for our ability to support neighbouring organisations and as many patients as possible.”

Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health plans to extend the use of the Miya Precision platform in 2026 to introduce digital patient flow tools within mental health services.

It is also planning interoperability with the trust’s electronic patient record to support alignment with wider integrated care system priorities.

Paul Deffley, chief medical officer and UK managing director at Alcidion, said: “Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust is a pioneer, as the first community trust to use our platform.

“We have worked together to ensure that technology responds to real needs, learning lessons that will undoubtedly be transferable to many community trusts in the NHS.”