Trusts to share electronic patient record system to improve care and experience for patients
Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are to share a single electronic patient record system in order to provide patients with better care and experience.
The trusts have seven hospitals all within 10 miles of each other, with many clinicians working across these hospitals and we provide care to many of the same patients. The core system will be Cerner Millennium, which has already been implemented across Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Clinical, technical and transformation teams at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust will work together to develop the shared system to allow maximum benefit to patients. The trusts are also working jointly with their wider health and social care system partners to ensure technology supports better integrated care for patients.
The shared system will hold information about a patient’s clinical care at either trust so that doctors and nurses are able to access relevant information about their treatment irrespective of where it was received. This will improve coordination of patient care and make it more efficient.
Dr Julian Redhead, Medical Director for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said:
“By working in partnership we have the opportunity to pool experience so that the system can be refined to support the development of new care pathways and models of care. This gives us far more scope to improve services for patients than if we were working alone.”
Zoe Penn, Medical Director for Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“Many of us have experienced the benefits of using the latest technology in our daily lives. The NHS needs to get up to speed with this worldwide digital revolution in order to improve care and experience for patients and staff alike.
“By implementing this new electronic patient record system we have the benefit of a tried and trusted system and approach to rollout as well as improved, more joined up care for our patients.”
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust have also appointed Kevin Jarrold to be the Trust’s Chief Information Officer on a shared appointment with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Kevin successfully implemented the Cerner system at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and will be responsible for information and communications technology at both trusts from 1 October 2016. This collaboration will provide strong and consistent leadership on the delivering the trusts’ shared goal of digital transformation of clinical services. Kevin will report to each respective Chief Executive and Trust Board.
