Planning and implementation of the new solution was quick and uncomplicated: “The NEXUS project team couldn’t have been more responsive – our every requirement and wish were fulfilled competently and, above all, quickly,” complements Christian Franz, who managed the project on behalf of the hospital.

DKH Wehrda in Marburg, an academic teaching hospital of Philipps University Marburg, has more than 200 beds over five main departments. Before implementing the digitised kitchen system, the entire process - from ordering and purchasing through to the preparation and serving of meals - was managed manually: Orders were taken on paper by the ward nurses and then input into an Excel sheet on the PC to be sent to the kitchen. Types of diet and intolerances were noted on slips and taken to the kitchen or telephoned through.

With the planned new build of the kitchen and changeover from a ladling system to a belt system, it soon became clear that processing food orders electronically would save time and money. NEXUS / FOODCARE met all the system requirements formulated by the hospital management:

• Thorough integration in the hospital information system (NEXUS / HIS)
• Mobile functionality (ordering of food electronically using tablets directly at the patient’s bedside)
• Individual pre-selection from menu, according to the patient’s eating plan, preferences or intolerances
• Information sent directly and in full to the kitchen
• Able to reflect European requirements, for example with regard to food labelling/information.

Special to Wehrda: NEXUS / FOODCARE not only organises the catering for patients, but the hospital staff can – if they wish – also order food in the hospital canteen. In this respect, a daily analysis is generated, which allows the cash desk staff to cash up the meals consumed on the basis of this daily updated list.

On the wards, the nursing staff can use a tablet to record any relevant catering needs of the patient directly at the bedside, for example preferences, intolerances or allergies – if they have not already been entered on the HIS system. Food is also ordered online. If WiFi is not available, the orders can be input offline and then transferred directly to the kitchen from a service point at a later time. If necessary, the desktop version of NEXUS / FOODCARE can also be used on the ward computer.

In order to familiarise the staff with the new routine, a comprehensive training concept was developed and delivered. “You always come across some resistance when rolling out new technologies, but we were able to counter this well with training and the fact that NEXUS was always by our side with help and advice. Most employees are now very happy to work with FOODCARE,” comments Christian Franz, “With NEXUS / FOODCARE, DKH Wehrda has extremely reliable software and in NEXUS we have found an extremely reliable partner in the area of food management.”