REDUCING the length of time people spend in hospital means greater efficiency for an overburdened National Health Service.

And this is what healthcare management company CMA Associates works to improve. The business, based on King Street, York, has a team of clinicians, technology specialists, senior operations managers and information and intelligence experts, which it uses to transform the workings of healthcare organisations.

CMA Associates is working in partnership with Scarborough and Bridlington Hospitals and RealTime Healthcare to introduce a programme to improve clinical services and reduce the average length of stay at the hospitals.

The RealTime software provides staff with the tools to improve patient flow and safeguard and improve clinical services, the company said.

It has entered Small Business Of The Year and Science And Technology Business Of The Year in The Press Business Awards 2010.