Progress to a Bright New Future for Princess Grace Hospital

We hear a lot about digitization in the business world but it is also vital to our future health. And Princess Grace Hospital is leading the charge with its E-CHPG project. Head of the hospital, it’s 37 year old Director, Monégasque Benoîte de Sevelinges, clearly will have it as a priority. HelloMonaco has been tracking closely the reports on progress including reports in the press.

Digitization

Ultimately, all doctors and nurses at CHPG will have a tablet or smartphone to capture medical data directly at the patient’s bedside.

In fact the hospital is completely changing its information systems from the medical, administrative, and economic points of view including messaging. It is anticipated to profoundly change the way everyone works saving a lot of time on tasks with low added value.

All medical staff should be more able to focus on their core activity, spend more time on the qualitative aspect of their profession, especially in relation to helping the patient.

Today, the nurse has a patient file which is all on paper. The idea is to provide nurses and doctors with mobile tools, such as tablets or smartphones, where they can grasp the vital information or conduct medical examinations directly at the patient’s bedside, and display images. The other advantage is that access to the medical file, now consisting of a bulky file jacket, will be possible at any time, from anywhere, so medical advice can be sought very quickly.

For the patient, the file can be easily shared, in a secure way of course, with the doctor, with nurses and therapists or any other specialist. All the medical information of the patient will be in the same place.

The New CHPG Hospital Targeted for 2026

The delivery of the major first phase is now being planned for 2026. This includes the entire southern part of the building, which will house most of the hospital services, emergencies, operating theatres, medical imaging, hemodialysis, and the big technical platforms – also the car park and the gazebo. Remaining in the current CHPG building will be only the polyclinic, the maternity tower and the Louis-II pavilion. They will be completely renovated in their current premises as the completion of their transfer to the new building will not be fully implemented until 2032. For example, all the rooms of the maternity unit have just been renovated.

Emergency Department 

If these projects were not enough the Emergency Room service has also been the subject of an audit. Reportedly the service is working well and satisfaction rates are high, but there is room to improve particularly in communicating with patients. It is frustrating for a patient to arrive in the waiting room, to be seen by a nurse, then to be brought back in the waiting room and be left waiting in cubicles without knowing what is being planned for them. And too many patients are waiting in the hallway, so a waiting room is needed.

Staff Relations

There was a strike on in early summer but that was related to that of the Union of Monaco Trade Unions, and reportedly mobilized less than 5% of the total workforce.

There has reportedly been a revaluation of salary scales and the pension plan, a revised Christmas bonus of 650 € this year (against 300 €) and another for non-absenteeism of 300 €. The staff ratios (per patient) in CHPG are reported as significantly higher than those of the neighbouring country which bodes well for the future.