Colleagues across the Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) have started to work together to move patient records online into one seamless system.
The four acute providers including Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, East Lancashire Hospitals, Lancashire Teaching Hospitals and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay currently have hundreds of different ways of recording and accessing patient information – and the plan is to bring these together to help colleagues, patients and their families spend more time on treatment and recovery.
The first step will be to switch from paper-based records to digital and this system is known as an Electronic Patient Record or EPR for short.
Blackpool Teaching Hospitals is starting the procurement process now and plans to go live in 2025.
Steve Christian, Deputy Chief Executive and lead for the digital transformation programme at the Trust, explained: “Reducing the number of different systems we use is a key part of the Trust’s new digital plan. We want to ensure that digital isn’t a burden or barrier to providing care but instead provides real benefits for colleagues to work in the most effective caring, safe and respectful way, ensuring patients, carers and their families have smooth access to high quality services. This important step towards a digital future is crucial to our success.
“My philosophy is that any digital transformation should be clinically led, operationally supported and digitally enabled. We’re looking to engage with colleagues to support this significant change, who are energetic with innovative ideas to help us design the future digital model in Blackpool.”
An EPR enables instant access to real time information at a glance on a screen or compatible device. More than one person can access or input at a time.
Mark Singleton, Chief Information Officer at BTH, said: “The EPR will give colleagues more time to care for patients and will improve the patient experience as they will not have to give the same information multiple times throughout their care journey.
“This isn’t an IT project, it’s about clinical and operational transformation. Colleagues from right across the system will be delivering the change together so we can work differently and more effectively.
“The ambition of the ICB and the reason for implementing an EPR together is to improve health and care systems by ensuring all services have access to the technology and information they need to effectively manage and improve health and wellbeing.”
As part of the work in Blackpool, the Trust will introduce a new Patient Administration System (PAS) first and this will provide the foundation of the future EPR so it’s important that colleagues across the Trust get involved to design it. To be most effective, the programme as a whole will be clinically-led and colleagues intend to factor plenty of opportunities to influence the design, procurement and implementation plan.
If you have been invited to attend workshops for either the PAS or EPR in the next few weeks, please do come along and get involved in ensuring these systems work in the best way for colleagues and patients.
If you are keen to be involved in these or some of our other digital projects, please complete this form to register your interest as a digital champion.
You can find out more about the EPR programme by contacting your local EPR team on bfwh.eprteam@nhs.net
PLEASE NOTE As part of procurement rules it’s important we manage confidentiality around this critical project and colleagues should not discuss anything (verbal or written) with suppliers relating to this tender exercise. Stakeholders will sign a tender evaluation panellist declaration, regarding any conflict of interest and confidentiality undertaking, which will be issued in due course. Any approach by any supplier and/or Freedom of Information relating to this tender exercise must be directed to bfwh.eprteam@nhs.net to maintain a fair and transparent procurement process.