Cornwall digitises children’s records

Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has transferred all of its children’s records onto a bespoke version of its RiO electronic patient record system.

The trust’s child health professionals can now access the electronic records of more than 24,000 children wherever they are in the county.

The trust first went live with RiO in its mental health, dementia and learning disability services under a national programme for IT contract in 2010.

The children’s system, known locally as KITS RiO, has been purchased by the trust directly from Servelec Healthcare (formerly CSE Healthcare) and designed by clinicians and IT experts in Cornwall to suit local needs.

Chief operating officer Julie Dawson said the deployment is an example of “Cornwall leading the way in its use of technology."

“The launch of KITS RiO across our children’s services will enhance the safety and quality of care we provide,” she said.

“Nationally, we are recognised for our best practice use of electronic patient records – following the introduction of these across our mental health, learning disability and dementia services.

“The establishment of KITS RiO in our children’s services means all our patient records are available electronically. This places us well ahead of the national timetable for a paperless NHS by 2018,” she added.

The trust has been planning for go-live for more than a year. Around 500 staff  have been trained in the use of KITS RiO and feedback so far has been “extremely positive”, said Dawson.

Cornwall’s NPfIT contract runs until 2015 and the trust is already developing plans to build a bespoke record for its mental health, dementia and learning disability services along the lines of KITS RiO.