First areas of hospital go live with new electronic patient records system

The Trust successfully introduced electronic patient records (EPR) in the first areas of Medway Maritime Hospital on Tuesday 16 November 2021.

The smooth launch of EPR in 26 adult in-patient wards and Same Day Emergency Care marked an exciting milestone in the Trust’s digital transformation journey and the beginning of a transformation in the way that patient care is delivered.

A world first

This was the first of five phases of roll-out of EPR under our Digital Innovation programme. The new system will ultimately consolidate numerous existing patient information systems into just one – the Sunrise EPR system provided by Allscripts. The Trust is the first healthcare organisation in the world to be using version 21.1 of Sunrise.

Once fully in place across the hospital, all information about a patient’s medical history and treatment will be available electronically, on screen, at any location, at any time. This will bring numerous benefits to patients and staff, including freeing up clinician time to care and improving quality and safety.

Joined-up care for the 21^st century

Dr George Findlay, Trust Chief Executive, said: “This is a tremendous achievement for the Trust. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have remained committed to our ambition to begin rolling out EPR, with much of the preparation and planning work continuing remotely.

“We could not have done this without the support of our staff and partners and I would like to thank everyone involved for getting us here. I am especially proud that we were able to deliver this first phase from start to finish, within five months, without postponement or delays.”

Michael Beckett, the Trust’s Director of IT, said: “The Trust has historically used as many as 70 different IT systems, as well as paper notes, to manage patient records. This meant patient care could be disjointed or slower than we would like as staff tracked down the information they needed, or did not have a complete picture of a patient’s history and journey. This new system brings us into the 21^st century as we implement digital solutions to improve our patient care and performance.

“The smooth go-live was made possible thanks to support from all levels within the Trust, the engagement from clinical staff in helping us design and test a bespoke system that works for us, and to the trust and supplier teams who worked incredibly hard together to get this on the ground in just five months.”

More time to care

In the first 24-hours of going live, more than 1,500 documents were created on Sunrise for new and existing patients.

Emma Hughes, Senior Sister in Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and Chief Nurse Informatics Officer, said: “Our team was very excited about this coming in. Patients do not have to repeat information about their condition or care so far to different clinicians, and they are not having their treatment delayed while we track down their paper notes or details on another system. Now it’s all in one place, so we are spending less time on computer admin and more time giving care, which is fantastic.”

Medway is the third Trust in Kent and Medway to go live with Sunrise, which means records will be able to be shared between other hospitals, too, for seamless patient care.