Learning from Norway, the postnatal ward at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust has reduced background noise, which is benefiting both patients and staff, as Christopher Betts, business development leader UK at DNV Imatis, explains.
Alarms sound, call bells ring, equipment hums and conversations overlap around the clock. The familiar beep, beep, beep of hospital noise is often treated as an unavoidable feature of clinical care. However, growing evidence suggests that constant background sound disrupts patient sleep, increases stress and places an additional cognitive burden on staff already working under pressure.
The reasoning is that noise fragments attention, contributes to alarm fatigue, and undermines the conditions needed for rest and recovery. For patients in vulnerable states, such as postnatal care, frequent interruptions and elevated sound levels increase healing times and undermine their wellbeing. For staff, the effect of alerts, bells and competing demands impairs focus and decision-making across long shifts.
To create calmer wards, communication systems can be redesigned around clinical workflows and patient needs, without compromising responsiveness or safety. Silence becomes an indicator that systems are working in the background, allowing clinicians to concentrate on what matters most.
A silent ward at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust
An example of this in practice is that patient requests on the postnatal ward at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust take the form of discreet, prioritised digital alerts sent directly to staff members’ mobile devices. Traditional audible call bells no longer sound across the ward. While emergency alarms remain audible, the rest of the day-to-day beeps are no longer disruptive, allowing staff to respond appropriately without constant interruption.
This results in a calmer atmosphere where conversations become easier and, most importantly, patients report fewer disturbances. Sound energy at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust wards fell by 50%, reflected in a 3 decibel reduction in noise. Patients reported that sleep quality improved by 12%, allowing their rest to continue, which has a crucial role to play in recovery and wellbeing. The average length of stay dropped by half a day, translating to an estimated £75,000 in annual savings for a 25-bed ward.
It’s not just the patients who have benefited. Nurses and midwives reported smoother handovers, fewer unnecessary interruptions and greater ease in maintaining focus. The digital triage alerts enable calmer, deliberate and less reactive responses, supporting safer decision-making throughout a shift. Staff report feeling less drained and more able to engage meaningfully with patients.
In today’s hospitals, clinical staff operate under sustained pressure, managing multiple patients, rapid assessments, and emotionally demanding situations. When the auditory environment adds an additional layer of cognitive load, decision-making slows and errors become more likely. Removing unnecessary noise addresses one modifiable stressor that affects performance and wellbeing daily. The difference is felt most acutely during night shifts, when background noise typically compounds fatigue and makes it harder to maintain the level of vigilance required for patient safety.
As for digital alerts, they now provide information about urgency and location, allowing nurses to cluster tasks efficiently and reduce the back-and-forth. Staff plan their movements around the ward more strategically, which creates time for longer, more attentive interactions with patients. Where traditional call bells create an environment of constant reactivity, digital systems allow for a degree of control that makes clinical work feel less chaotic and more purposeful.
The same principles apply beyond acute settings: in care homes, supported living facilities and community hospitals, where staff often work alone or in small teams across multiple rooms or floors. Silent alert systems can reduce isolation and improve response times, while also helping to mitigate the alarm fatigue and cognitive overload already well documented in tertiary care environments.
The shift also changes the nature of patient interaction. When staff arrive at the bedside already informed about the nature of the request, conversations start from a place of preparedness rather than assessment. Patients feel heard more quickly, and staff avoid the repetitive questioning. This small change in dynamic contributes to a perception of better care, even when the clinical intervention itself remains unchanged.
Interoperability and digital transformation
Yet, this kind of positive response to digital tools remains the exception rather than the rule. A recent BMJ Group and DNV report across European healthcare found that 76% of healthcare professionals remain optimistic about digital transformation, yet only 38% feel that digital tools have reduced their workload.
Poor interoperability, fragmented systems and limited training continue to create barriers. Almost half of clinicians reported double-checking digital information before acting – a clear indication of low confidence in the systems they are expected to rely on daily. The gap between expectation and experience reflects a broader problem in healthcare technology, where systems are often designed to meet technical specifications rather than clinical needs.
The technology at Royal Cornwall works within existing workflows and addresses a problem that staff and patients experience directly. It does not add layers of complexity or require significant behavioural change – the focus remains on clinical logic rather than technical capability. This distinction matters because it explains why adoption has been relatively smooth, and why staff report genuine improvements rather than simply learning to work around new constraints.
Clinicians, IT teams and builders collaborated on several fully digital hospitals in Norway, including those in Drammen, Stavanger, and at Nordmøre and Romsdal, before the buildings opened. Systems were embedded into workflows from the outset, avoiding the retrofitting challenges that often plague digital health projects – smoother handovers, fewer IT-related disruptions and higher staff satisfaction followed. While healthcare systems differ between countries, involving clinical staff early in system design produces tools that genuinely support practice rather than complicate it.
The technical innovation taking place in Norway and its implementation in the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, demonstrates that thoughtful redesign of communication, grounded in clinical reality, delivers measurable gains in recovery, staff wellbeing and operational efficiency. Silence becomes evidence of systems working as they should, supporting both patients and professionals without adding to the demands already placed on overstretched services. What distinguishes this approach from other digital health initiatives is its modesty. It does not promise transformation or disruption. It promises something quieter and, for that reason, more credible.
A version of this article was originally published by our sister publication Healthcare Leader.