In a significant move to enhance patient care, Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has launched a pioneering digital communication system across its services. The initiative, featuring the CardMedic platform, is designed to ensure that none of its patients are left unable to communicate their needs.
Revolutionising Patient-Clinician Dialogue
The Trust has integrated the CardMedic system throughout its organisation, including its 6,300-strong workforce. This digital healthcare platform empowers staff to communicate clearly and confidently with individuals facing language or communication barriers, such as cognitive impairment or low literacy.
The technology provides instant access to a suite of tools, including live interpreters in over 200 languages via Language Line. It also offers thousands of pre-written, clinically checked scripts available in multiple languages and formats. These include British Sign Language (BSL), Easy Read, and Read Aloud options, ensuring information is accessible to all.
Bedside Integration and Trust-Wide Rollout
A key feature of this collaboration is the deployment of CardMedic on 455 SPARK Fusion® patient bedside devices across 20 wards at Stepping Hill Hospital. This integration brings universal communication support directly to the patient's bedside, offering greater privacy, speed, and confidence during interactions.
The rollout is not limited to the hospital. From day one, CardMedic has been available in all inpatient areas and is being introduced across all the Trust's acute and community settings. This includes key departments such as the emergency department, maternity, and acute medical units.
The programme is supported by digital nurses, midwives, and clinical champions. Its reach extends to community staff, including community midwives, school nurses, allied healthcare professionals, Macmillan nurses, and district nurses.
A Commitment to Equitable Care
Pam Fearns, the chief nursing information officer at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust who led the project, emphasised its importance. "CardMedic will enable patients to voice their needs where previously they may have struggled to communicate them," she said. "All conversations play a vital role in ensuring inclusivity. CardMedic enables equality across our services."
The initiative reflects the Trust's core CARE values: Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence. It also supports regional and national efforts to reduce health inequalities, aligning with frameworks like the Accessible Information Standard and the Core20PLUS5 programme.
To better serve the local community, CardMedic is adding Kurdish Sorani to its platform for the first time, responding to the area's top non-English languages, which include Farsi, Urdu, Arabic, and Cantonese.
Dr Rachael Grimaldi, CEO and co-founder of CardMedic, praised the Trust's approach: "Stockport NHS Foundation Trust has demonstrated what equitable care in action looks like. No patient will be left without a voice in their care."
This partnership is expected to improve patient understanding, outcomes, and attendance rates, while simultaneously easing the pressure on frontline staff.
