Improving Hospital–Family Communication with Clera
How we helped Clera Healthcare improve family communication across hospital wards with a secure digital platform
Project overview
Clera Healthcare is a UK-based health technology company providing a secure digital communication platform that connects clinical teams with patients’ families. They approached Ghyston to help address a persistent challenge across hospital wards: families were struggling to receive timely, reliable updates, while clinical staff were losing valuable time responding to phone calls and ad hoc requests for information.
Ghyston partnered with Clera to rapidly design and deliver a scalable solution that would improve the experience for families, reduce pressure on ward staff, and support safer, more efficient care.
Understanding the challenge
Hospital teams were under increasing strain. Families often felt disconnected from what was happening on the ward, with only 8% reporting they were “very happy” with the information they received. This lack of visibility led to frequent inbound calls, interruptions, and frustration on both sides.
Staff were spending around 14% of ward time on phone calls, pulling clinicians away from patient care. Discharges were delayed, complaints were rising, and the overall process was inefficient and costly for hospitals already operating under pressure.
Clera needed a solution that could be introduced quickly, fit seamlessly into existing clinical workflows, and meet the strict security and governance requirements of a healthcare environment.
The solution
Ghyston worked closely with Clera to deliver a minimum viable product at pace, focusing on simplicity, security, and real-world usability.
- Rapid development: An MVP messaging platform was delivered in a matter of weeks, working within a limited budget while still laying strong foundations for future growth.
- Secure communication: The platform introduced secure chat workflows with built-in consent management and identity verification, ensuring sensitive updates could be shared safely and confidently.
- User-friendly interface: A simple, intuitive dashboard allowed staff to post updates once and share them across the wider care team, reducing duplication and saving time.
- Data integration: All communications could be exported and included directly in patient notes, supporting clinical governance and audit requirements.
- Scalable architecture: The solution was built using a full‑stack TypeScript and Azure architecture, designed to scale as adoption increased across wards and organisations.
Key achievements
- The impact of Clera was quickly measurable across patients, families, and staff:
- 5× more updates per patient per day, increasing from 0.45 to 2.36
- Families feeling “well informed” rose from 40% to 70%
- Patients understanding their care plans increased from 56% to 75%
- Time taken to provide updates halved from 10 minutes to 5 minutes
- 92% of staff valued Clera’s impact, with 86% finding it easy to integrate into their day‑to‑day work
The outcome
Clera transformed how hospitals communicate with families, reducing pressure on staff while significantly improving the experience for those supporting loved ones in care. Families described the platform as “game‑changing”, highlighting the reassurance that comes from timely, transparent updates.
“We used Ghyston to bring our vision to life when we didn’t have the technical ability to do it ourselves. They didn’t just build our software, they spent time ensuring our visions were aligned, brainstorming and learning about our company and bringing exciting and innovative ideas to our product. They ensured we were building the best solution possible, and we couldn’t have got to where we are without them. We would recommend them to anyone!”
Alice Appleton, Co-Founder

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