Mustafa helps keep trust in the pink
‘Here comes Pink Man. Quick. Grab him!” was an oft repeated phrase Mustafa Mohamed heard at the beginning of the Cerner EPR rollout as clinical staff sought help with the switchover to electronic patient records.
Mustafa is one of more than 300 floor-walkers available at a moment’s notice across hospital sites in north-west London providing ‘elbow support’ until nearly 9,000 staff are comfortable using the new system.
Their numbers are now being reduced week by week as staff familiarize themselves the system but they initially wore pink t-shirts to make themselves easily identifiable in clinical areas.
“I was initially dealing with about 50 enquiries a day but I enjoy helping people,” said the veteran of several EPR rollouts around the country.
Ealing is closer to Mustafa's heart than his previous assignments having been born in the hospital and he lives just around the corner.
“I'm a local lad and it's great to come and work here.The hospital still has a community feel which is nice and the rollout here has gone well.
“I bumped into one of my old teachers in outpatients the other day and then found one of the A&E nurses was in the same year as me at school.”
So how does the senior floorwalker and trainer calm the sometimes frazzled nerves of staff who can’t remember how to book an appointment or find a patient record?
“I just reassure people it is an easy fix and that they will get the hang of it. Practice makes perfect at the end of the day. I see staff who were hesitant a few weeks ago just flying around the system now.”