Harrogate and District NHS digitises maternity service and joins up records across region

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust (HDFT) has digitised its maternity service by going live with the BadgerNet maternity system by Clevermed (a System C company). 

Meanwhile, the system has joined together pregnancy records across Yorkshire and Humber, York and Scarborough.

Women across the region can have access to their pregnancy record via an app/portal and clinicians can view the information and record all events in real-time, wherever they present – in the hospital, the community, or at home.

This includes both high risk (consultant-led) and low risk (midwife-led) pregnancy pathways.

Digital Midwife, Rachel Robson, at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust said:  “The go-live went very smoothly and the system stood up to the delivery of twins on the day.

“Already we are saving lots of time on inputting observations and booking appointments.”

Clevermed is preparing to integrate more units onto the shared record, with Hull and North Lincolnshire joining the system later this year to join up care and processes across the whole of Yorkshire.

BadgerNet Maternity at HDFT has replaced paper notes and digitised a busy maternity unit that cares for approximately 2,000 families annually.

Staff have instant access to the pregnancy record which previously were stored on paper, making it challenging if patients received care at another unit or weren’t able to bring their paper record with them.

Having the complete record at patient’s fingertips is essential for staff to deliver faster and more informed care.

Robson added:

“As a Trust, our objective is to work in partnership, to provide women and their families with a safe and effective service, aiming to deliver the highest standard of maternity and neonatal care.

“A digital joined up record is a key enabler to maintaining that level of care.”

The integrated approach enhances patient experience by reducing the amount of times women who have experienced trauma, or who have complex histories, have to repeat and relive their story to multiple healthcare professionals at each point of care.

HDFT has linked the maternity system with its existing BadgerNet neonatal system.

Users automatically benefit from being able to access the BadgerNet single neonatal record that is used in most neonatal units across the country.

Guy Lucchi, Managing Director of Healthcare at System C, said: “Joining up records across the region is an exciting development for the services and women in the area.

“It’s been great supporting HDFT to make the transformational leap from paper processes to a fully digitised service that also connects care across boundaries and provides a single pregnancy record within a large region.”

Clevermed was acquired by health and social care specialist System C earlier this year.

The purchase has enhanced the company’s maternity offering and supports its goal to deliver integrated digital solutions that span the entire patient journey from prenatal services to end of life care.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust is one of 10 BadgerNet go-lives since the acquisition.