NHS England is providing £1.9 billion to NHS trusts to ensure they all meet a core level of digitisation and have electronic patient record systems in place. This investment in digitising the frontline will ensure that health and care staff have access to health related information when and where it is needed, supporting them to deliver care efficiently, effectively and safely, reducing variation and improving outcomes.
There is much more we can do to improve clinical outcomes and patient care across organisational boundaries by working together. Using one EPR across the three Trusts will transform the way we work together by standardising care processes and sharing knowledge between sites which will help to give patients a high-quality and consistent experience with the best possible outcomes.
Yes, we will be investing in both our infrastructure as well as devices/ equipment to support with our new EPR solution. An infrastructure review/ audit has been carried out, which included an assessment of current devices and networking within clinical areas. We will continue to use current compatible devices such as scanners, handhelds, printers, and computers on wheels and will look to update them to ensure that they can function with the new system.
Device allocations depending on requirements for the ward/ department will be reviewed and allocated accordingly depending on workload. More information will be shared over coming months.
Implementing a new EPR is a major change programme and will lead us all to doing things differently.
In addition, there will be new equipment and devices to learn how to use, new software to become familiar with and new ways of working through process re-design. All of these changes will be rolled out in a manageable way. We will provide training and support in many forms. This is a very exciting journey and we want to bring everyone along smoothly and considerately.
With our new EPR, medical patient notes will be digitalised. This will reduce the need to sort, pull, and retrieve files from multiple places as clinicians will have information available at their fingertips, enabling more time to be spent on delivering great patient care. Existing paper notes will continue to be stored as per our medical documentation retention periods.
A shared EPR will provide a more efficient way of working for our staff and will require input from all colleagues to shape and design it. There will be opportunities to share your ideas, participate in design workshops, attend demos and get involved. Visit your local intranet page to contact your local workstream leads to find out more.
