NHS Forth Valley (NHSFV) is one of 14 regional health boards, serving a population of more than 306,000 in a diverse geographical area which covers the heart of Scotland.
The NHSBoard manages an annual budget of over £570 million and employs around 8,000 staff.
Forth Valley Royal Hospital in Larbert is one of the most advanced and well-equipped in Europe.
The hospital is supported by a network of four community hospitals, 56 health centres, day centres providing care and support for patients with mental illness and learning disabilities and a wide range of community services.
Challenges
The health board reviews its systems and services on an ongoing basis as part of its Healthcare Strategy ‘Shaping the Future’.
It identified that, although the previous current electronic patient record (EPR) system MiDIS (Multi-Disciplinary Information System) provided sufficient functionality for most services, it required a mobile solution to support its community staff while visiting patients.
Top challenges:
- To enable healthcare staff in the community to work with patient information both offline and online
- To enable staff to share and update healthcare data with their colleagues
- To reduce travel to and from NHS premises, increasing time spent with patients
- To be able to extract and report on patient data to plan staff deployment and manage performance and delivery of care
- To manage and ensure the sustainability of electronic health records
- To improve the admissions and discharge procedure, saving time and ensuring patient safety
Solution
After considering a number of solutions, NHSFV adopted the Morse Electronic Patient Record mobile app from Cambric Systems.
Today, over 1,000 healthcare professionals including Allied Health Professionals (AHPs) and Community Nursing Services use Morse to remotely access the latest patient and clinical data.
Results
Key highlights
- Saves time in busy referral system – NHSFV has seen an 80 per cent reduction in processing
- Reduces duplication – workflows have improved as patient intervention is recorded at point of care, with no manual paperwork required
- Work efficiencies – mobile working using iPads has led to a significant reduction in travel time and costs
- Improved communication and decision making – results and assessments are now available and accessible for other Morse users
- More responsive service during the day with faster decisions/action and redeployment of staff where required
- Clinical decisions supported – photos can be taken and shared to enable consultation and advice
- Reduces home visits and increases patient safety before discharge by sharing environmental and residential information for assessment
Nicola Henderson, AHP eHealth Clinical Lead, Senior Dietitian, Dietetic Department, NHS Forth Valley, said:
“Each example of the efficiencies gained using Morse really add up across the organisation to make significant time and cost savings.”
