Raigmore Hospital: eCLIQ solution secures hospital estate

Background

NHS Raigmore provides an extensive range of healthcare services - surgical, medical, clinical support – and with eight floors, over 2,800 staff and over 450 beds, the hospital is very busy every day. It is the only District General Hospital in the NHS Highlands Partnership, which owns over 200 sites throughout their Health Board area.

The sheer size of the hospital estate requires a large facilities management team to oversee building maintenance and environmental services. Plant rooms, high and low voltage rooms and roof hatches are accessed daily to maintain the building – along with a helipad that needs securing and opening when air ambulance need to land.

Previously secured with a system of traditional mechanical keys and cylinders, Raigmore Hospital was susceptible to security risks in cases of lost and stolen keys. An additional consideration in finding the best solution is legislation that now require hospital buildings to have connected assets.

Solution

NHS Raigmore approached Abloy UK to discuss a key management solution that would meet the latest regulations, has the capability to monitor the use of keys and can easily revoke access from lost or stolen keys.

Abloy UK recommended eCLIQ^®, a web-based locking and key management solution. The system was installed throughout the estate, with 82 locks fitted by Raigmore's facilities management team and 42 keys issued to staff and contractors. Installation was easy as the cylinders do not require a power output.

eCLIQ^® uses web management software providing valuable insights into when, where and by who the keys are used. Facilities management have a detailed overview and control of access across the hospital as the system logs the time and user of the key every time it's used. If problems occur, it is easy to determine who last entered the room to find out more information in a substantially reduced time.

The risk of unauthorised access is reduced with web management software controlling the validation and revoking of keys. Likewise, former employees who do not return their key will no longer have access because their key can simply be removed from the system.

eCLIQ^® provides life-saving operational benefits during air emergencies, as staff no longer need to locate the helipad key to access the pad. All authorised personnel can use their specific key to unlock the pad, which can prove vital when time is a factor in giving a patient life-saving care.

"New legislation requiring connectivity of assets made our old security out-dated. Rory at Abloy suggested eCLIQ^® as a solution, and the mechanical locks combined with the benefits that connectivity offers have proved a great asset to the hospital. Previously, when a key gets lost or stolen, the only way to ensure security was maintained was to change our cylinders. eCLIQ^® has negated this, saving us money and time. We have set access to coincide with staff shift-patterns and any attempted access out of these times is revoked. The system has made it far easier to see who is accessing rooms, proving essential to the hospital's security. We found the cylinders easy to install, and the support provided by Abloy has helped us transition smoothly to this electromechanical system."

-Colin McEwan, Design Lead - Estate Management, NHS Raigmore 

eCLIQ^® offers Raigmore Hospital a high level of security and is ideal for maintenance rooms and roof hatches. The system has performed very well since installation and we are optimistic about extending the system throughout the NHS Highlands.

-Rory Grant, Regional Specification Manager - Abloy UK