Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust digitise its maternity service

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust has successfully digitised its maternity service and is now live with the BadgetNet system from Clevermed, a maternity and neonatal specialist.

In a further boost to the region, the system has now joined together pregnancy records across Yorkshire and Humber, York and Scarborough. This means that regardless of location, expectant parents are able to access appropriate care immediately.

Their records will be available to view by healthcare clinicians and they will have the ability to records events in them too, whether they are in a hospital, the community or at home. The initiative encompasses both high-risk (consultant-led) and low-risk (midwife-led) pregnancy pathways.

Replacing paper records with the digital solution means patients no longer need to repeat their histories to different healthcare providers, helping to improve efficiency and standards of care for patients. Clinical teams are also able to save time, allowing them to prioritise patient care.

Rachel Robson, digital midwife, at Harrogate and District, said: “Already we are saving lots of time on inputting observations and booking appointments.

“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.”

Harrogate and District has linked its maternity system with the existing BadgetNet neonatal system, with the single neonatal record from Clevermed being used in many neonatal units in the country.

This integration is also helping to improve patient experiences by limiting the number of times women who have experience birth trauma or who have complex histories have to repeat their story.

In addition, expectant patients can access their pregnancy records via an app.

Clevermed is now preparing to integrate more units onto the shared records, with Hull and North Lincolnshire joining the system later in the year to help join up the whole of Yorkshire.

The company was acquired by health and social care specialist System C earlier in the year. Since then, Harrogate and District has been one of 10 BadgetNet go-lives.