More than £8 million is being invested in new clinical digital tools at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which will end doctors and nurses’ reliance on paper-based record keeping.
When the new range of smart technologies are fully in place, they will do away with more than 5 million pieces of paper which teams currently have to use each year for everything from recording patients’ nutrition and hydration assessments to filling in prescriptions.
The roll-out of the new smart technologies is being led by the trust’s experienced clinicians and information technology (IT) team.
Significant positive impact
Hilary Lloyd, chief nurse, said: “Our amazing clinicians are amongst the best in the country. But their efforts are sometimes hampered by our historical reliance on paper-based record keeping.
“These new smart technologies will make a massive difference to the way we work.
“For example a new digital tool called Patientrack is now being rolled-out. It supports the capture of data and information at the patient’s bedside – directly entered on a tablet or integrated from patient monitors – and has started to replace the paper-based nutrition and hydration forms which colleagues have had to reply on.
“Later this year, we are introducing another digital tool which will enable electronic prescribing and medicines administration.”
This technology is designed for clinicians and, by adopting modern technology, will have a very significant positive impact on the daily lives of the people who use it and our patients and service users.”
Andrew Adair, chief clinical information officer and an emergency medicine consultant,
Manni Imiavan, digital director, said: “Our new technology will support our brilliant clinicians in making even more improvements for patients in incredibly busy and complex environments.”