What is Digital Transformation?
Digital Transformation is the term we use to describe how the Trust is making the most of new technologies to improve how we work, ultimately improving the quality of care we provide for our patients.
The Digital Transformation programme is a continuing process to improve our systems to ensure that information recorded in patient care is done so in a consistent, timely and accurate way using digital practices.
What is being recorded as part of my care?
There are many different types of information recorded about your health as part of your treatment in hospital. The data being recorded electronically is the same as the information we have traditionally collected on paper. When you are cared for at a hospital, your health is observed and recorded to check how your condition is progressing over the length of your stay. This could be your heart rate, your fluid intake, any medication you are taking and so on. The information recorded is dependent on your treatment pathway and associated healthcare needs.
Systems used in your care
There are several systems that record different aspects of care. To better understand what types of systems we use, these systems have been listed below, along with a brief description.
eObservations and Sepsis
These systems record patient observations, these are routine checks that monitor your body while you recover during your admission. Observations include taking your body temperature, respiratory rate, and heart rate. Instead of recording these observations on paper-based forms, clinicians use a secure mobile-type device to log the results. The system can calculate whether results are outside the normal range, alerting a senior nurse or medic if urgent attention is required.
eReconciliation
This system allows the Trust to account for what treatment has been given to a patient and plan for what future requirements are needed for services. It also ensures that the organisation receives appropriate payment from commissioners for any procedures undertaken as part of a patient’s care. It is an essential step in the delivery of high quality care and treatment.
Charting
The charting function within our systems enables digital recording of fluid input/output, stool and blood glucose monitoring and much more. The benefit of digital charts is not only the real-time accuracy, visibility and accessibility of information via a desktop or mobile device.
Nursing Assessments
A variety of digital risk assessments have been developed which highlight when patients are at risk of falling, malnutrition, skin damage and sepsis, plus many more. This aims to improve patient safety and helps nurses to tailor patient care based on their level of risk.
Care plans
Digital Care Planning allows clinicians to create a personalised plan of care tailored to patients clinical needs. Recording this information digitally makes the information accessible for all members of the Multidisciplinary Team involved in the patients care. It provides a standardised structure for nursing documentation and is quick and easy to complete at the patient’s bedside on either a mobile device or laptop.
Case notes
The Trust is planning the implementation of case notes in the near future for stroke patients on Ward 16. This means that any patient admitted to Ward 16 will have a streamlined digital documented admission. The introduction of digital forms (case notes) for inpatient care will significantly reduce the time it takes to provide information regarding the patient. Historically, completing paper forms has been an onerous, handwritten process, with the trust having multiple different forms and formats tailored to individual divisions. The new structure will consolidate the forms into a mobile format and will facilitate a process that’s almost entirely automated – the majority of information is automatically populated from fields that already exist in Clinical Systems. This will free up time to focus on supporting patient safety and care and will have a positive impact on patient flow.
eHandover
The digitalisation of Handover between health care professionals captures real-time, clinical information using a mobile phone device. The system is quicker and safer than the old paper-based format and there is minimal chance for tasks to be overlooked-thus improving safety and accountability.
Service delivery systems
Other systems form part of the Digital Transformation programme and help to improve the service our patients receive. Some examples are:
Hospital@
Hospital@ is a system that allows doctors to receive non-urgent out-of-hours tasks and notifications. These alerts are an improved way to communicate securely in real time via a mobile device.
Inpatient Flow
Creates an overview of bed spaces and patient flow through dashboards that display data gathered through the hospital’s digital system. This information can be accessed for all sites, divisions and areas from any other location, improving patient flow through clinical and treatment areas.
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