Electronic observations go off with a bang at North Midlands

University Hospitals of North Midlands (UHNM) NHS trust has deployed electronic observations across its two main hospitals.

System C’s CareFlow Vitals has been launched across all 52 wards at the trust’s two main hospital sites, County Hospital and Royal Stoke University Hospital.

These wards are now paper-free for observations, with nurses collecting observations on iPod Touches at the bedside in order to monitor and analyse patient vital signs, detect early signs of deterioration and trigger escalation pathways.

Doctors and multi-disciplinary teams also use iPads to monitor charts, track progress, and act upon triggers.

Dr Zia Din, chief clinical information officer (CCIO) and clinical lead for the project at UHNM, said: “The implementation of the e-Obs software across the two sites of UHNM was achieved in a record four weeks and has gone extremely well, with excellent engagement from our nurses and clinicians.

“The integration of Vitals with our clinical portal and ward information system has helped increase the visibility of patient observations, and earlier recognition and escalation of deteriorating patients has improved patient safety.”

The first wards to go live during the deployment were in the elderly care unit at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. The trust is now recording over 5,000 observations electronically a day.

Alan Bethell, CNIO at UHNM , said: “The engagement of the nursing teams in implementing the e-observations system across the Royal Stoke and County Hospital has been exceptional.

“The use of this technology has delivered a key patient safety improvement and has demonstrated that the workforce can embrace digital change for the best outcomes for patients.”

The deployment of vitals forms part of the trust’s 2025 Vision, the trust’s programme to develop world-class patient care, with a particular focus on clinical decision support, clinical productivity and improved patient safety.

Next steps in this programme include deploying System C’s integrated order communications and results reporting clinical module later this year, with clinical noting and e-prescribing deployments scheduled for phase two.

The trust went live with System C’s electronic patient record (EPR), Medway, in January 2017.

Medway awarded the five-year contract in November 2014, which includes the PAS and integrated clinical modules for order communications, clinical noting, business intelligence and results reporting.