Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust manages three hospitals and a nursing unit in Kent. With around 3,500 staff across four sites and a full range of acute services including A&E & Maternity, the trust relies heavily on printed documents for record keeping and communication across many different applications.
The Trust was managing its printing in-house but was unhappy with the quality and reliability of the printers it was using, which were also generating very high consumables and maintenance costs.
Brother worked with the Trust to carry out a print audit of every department across its estate. It revealed that the Trust’s aging fleet of 700 printers was very poorly aligned with its needs. Many units were used only by single individuals and received very light use, while others were struggling under the weight of very busy departments.
For example, the audit identified that the Accident and Emergency departments were the heaviest print users, explaining why they also saw the highest occurrence of printer failure – something that the IT department had wrongly assumed was due to misuse by staff.
Based on the audit, Brother specified a streamlined fleet of printers that aligned closely with each department’s needs. More units were installed in departments where print volumes were highest, while users with lower print needs were asked to share units. The scheme also ensured less cost effective colour units were only used where colour printouts were really needed.
Unexpected failure of heavily used printers has been minimised. Well-used printers are now rotated to lighter-duty application to spread the load across the fleet. When replacements are due, these are delivered in manageable batches and installation is managed by Brother.
To find out more about Brother’s solutions for the healthcare sector, visit the healthcare hub.