University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire to launch new EPR

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW) is launching a new electronic patient record (EPR) to digitise the way it delivers patient care and streamline processes.

The EPR, based on Oracle Health technology, is planned to go live on 15 June 2024 to deliver a new suite of digital tools and technologies and and replace paper-based notes at the trust.

The news comes after the initial roll-out planned in October 2023 roll-out was temporarily halted.

In a press release, Professor Andy Hardy, chief executive at the trust, said: “Having all patient information held in one place will greatly improve the patient experience at UHCW.

“It will save our staff time by freeing them up from administrative tasks and duplicating information on paper to focus on what matters the most – delivering high quality, face-to-face patient care.

“It will also improve our ability to share information with other care providers and enable us to start the most appropriate treatment for our patients sooner.”

The EPR is intended to provide an improved patient experience by capturing necessary information and ensuring it is instantly accessible to healthcare professionals working within the trust, eliminating the need to repeat information.

Hardy added that the EPR will improve efficiency by providing a single trust-wide hospital record for every patients.

“It will streamline the hundreds of different systems across all departments and services into one, so that all healthcare professionals working in the trust can quickly access up-to-date, reliable and consistent information,” he said.

In addition, the EPR is planned to enhance patient safety through in-built automated alerts and checks, reducing the likelihood of human error.

Departments within UHCW will be linked, with the aim of helping to support a more seamless discharge process for patients. By linking departments such as inpatient wards and pharmacy, medicines will be made available for patients as soon as they are ready to return home.