Monklands Replacement Project (MRP): Digital Twin

Posted: August 30, 2024
New Monkland's hospital digital twin illustration
New Monkland's hospital digital twin illustration
Designing a new University Hospital Monklands offers a unique opportunity for the project team to look at digital innovation options for our new hospital. One of our digital aspirations is to have a Digital Twin, which is a 4D virtual model of the physical hospital building that allows real-time monitoring of the building’s performance and management of the things in it. This would allow both patients and staff to drive a more efficient, patient-centred healthcare experience.
The Digital Twin workstream have worked hard to develop our Digital Twin Strategy and have met monthly to consult with a wide group of stakeholders, as well as companies who offer Digital Twin technology, to define what the requirements would be if we decide to implement this technology. In the near future the team will be scheduling focus groups with clinical and Facilities Management teams to capture the final pieces of information on how their staff could link with the Twin when the new hospital opens. This is very important for ensuring those who may eventually own and operate the Twin are on board with its development and are comfortable with how it will work.

The strategy includes a high-level overview of the requirements for the new Monklands. This includes things like making best use of hospital resources such as tracking hospital equipment or the occupancy within a room. The Twin can also enhance patient engagement through an electronic portal to allow them to actively participate in their own care. If adopted, we would also want to be able to map patient movement to help staff improve patient journeys by identifying and removing any bottlenecks.

Physical World and Digital Twin graphic illustration
Real-time data from the Twin would enable us to monitor energy consumption, identify opportunities for energy conservation and implement energy-efficient practices to help us achieve our net zero carbon target. The system can continuously monitor how hospital equipment and facilities are working, which allows the Twin to alert staff when equipment may be about to fail, enabling them to fix it before it can disrupt operations.

The Twin also helps to provide insights for management to optimise rostering and deployment to ensure adequate staff coverage and reduce burnout. The Twin allows staff to develop emergency preparedness and response planning by simulating various emergency scenarios.

The Digital Twin can be a powerful tool and if adopted in the new hospital, could improve the experience of patients, staff and visitors across the hospital site. Developing the strategy now gives us time to decide if a Digital Twin is the right technology for the new hospital and if so to refine what we want the Digital Twin’s capabilities to be. Our aim is to provide staff with the most modern working environment using the most up to date and economically advantageous systems, to enable them to give the best possible care to their patients.

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