Minister sees IT solution in action

Wednesday 29th October 2008

UK Health Minister Ben Bradshaw has visited Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, to see how information technology is helping doctors, nurses and other health professionals treat patients more effectively.

The mental health trust, which serves a combined population of about three quarters of a million people in the boroughs of Bexley, Bromley and Greenwich, was one of the first such trusts in London to have completed a trust-wide switch to electronic patient records. This new IT system – called RiO – was installed by BT as part of the London-wide NHS IT programme.

Replacing a paper-based system, the technology is helping to improve the quality of treatment given to patients. Electronic patient records can now be shared by a number of clinicians, spread across the trust's 76 sites. This has made it easier and faster to access up-to-date patient information, regardless of where the patient was last treated. For example, if a patient requires emergency treatment at the weekend, the doctor treating them will be able to access the latest information on their case, including treatment, risk assessments and escalation plans, meaning that the patient will be managed more quickly and effectively.
 
BT said this joined-up approach was helping 2000 NHS staff across the trust work more effectively as a team.

Mr Bradshaw said: "Information Technology is playing a pivotal role in enabling the NHS to deliver better, faster and safer healthcare. Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust is a great example of this. For the first time, patient information is available electronically to clinicians wherever and whenever it is needed, whereas previously paper records were locked up in filing stores. This is just one of the many tangible benefits being delivered today."

NHS London's Chief Information Officer, Kevin Jarrold, said: "Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust has enthusiastically embraced change through the use of the RiO system to improve the way its staff communicate and share patient information. More than half of London's mental health trusts are now beginning to see real benefit in making the switch to electronic care records through RiO to provide more joined-up and effective patient care. RiO is also the first step towards a fully-integrated electronic patient record system, which will enable NHS staff to access patient records by linking with other hospitals, clinics, GPs and social care organisations across the capital."

Clinicians across the trust have embraced the switch from paper to electronic records. Dr Hashim Reza, Consultant Psychiatrist and Clinical Director at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, said: "With clinicians managing ever demanding caseloads, the new technology is helping us to cope more effectively with the task in hand. The new computer system provides all the information in one place that is easily accessible, instead of these details being recorded in different sets of paper notes which may be difficult to access in a crisis. But the biggest beneficiaries of this technology are the patients themselves, who are receiving quicker, better and safer treatment as a consequence."

Sir Jonathan Michael, CEO BT Local Service Provider Programme, said: "BT has worked closely with Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust over the past couple of years with the shared objective of delivering a new system that improves the way that the trust works and delivers patient care. We are delighted with the number of benefits that have been delivered to date, but the journey is not yet complete. We will continue to work with and support the trust to deliver advanced versions of the technology, which promise to bring even more benefits, for both staff and patients in the future."

BT