Maternity EHR rolled out across Humber and North Yorkshire ICB

The BadgerNet maternity electronic health record (EHR) system from System C has been rolled out across NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) to enable parents-to-be to access their pregnancy and maternity records.

Goole NHS Foundation Trust was the final trust in the region to go live in September 2024, following a roll out at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in March 2024.

Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust and York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust were the first in teh region to roll out the system in March 2023.

Liz Davies, digital midwife at Hull University Teaching Hospital, said: “With BadgerNet now live in every trust in Humber and North Yorkshire, a complete maternity record can now be seen right across the region rather than just within one trust.

“This ensures a seamless transition when transferring patients between units. All healthcare professionals involved are fully informed of the patient’s history, risk factors, and care plans, ensuring the safest possible care.”

BadgerNet and  its accompanying parent portal, Badger Notes, replace the traditional handheld paper notes for maternity care.

The Badger Notes app provides real-time updates after each visit or appointment, offering people greater control and transparency over their care. Users can also personalise their own records by adding details such as their occupation, allergies, and preferences for pregnancy, birth and postpartum care.

The system also means that midwives do not have to enter the same information into both paper notes and the electronic system, freeing up some of their valuable time.

Becky Case, programme director for the region’s Local Maternity and Neonatal System, said: “We are so grateful for how hard our midwifery workforce continues to work, they have embraced this new system and have implemented it safely and effectively.

“BadgerNet also supports choice around maternity care, ensuring that we give women and birthing people in our area the opportunity to personalise their experience, have a say, and feedback on their experiences.

“We are incredibly committed to inclusion, so women and birthing people can still use paper maternity notes if they need to or would prefer not to access their notes digitally.

“Information can be made available in different languages, and we can support those with different disabilities as needed.”

Initial survey feedback from those using BadgerNotes in York and Scarborough has been positive, showing that pregnant women and parents-to-be value the convenience of their records being on their phones and the security of their records when compared to paper notes.

Meanwhile in October 2024,  Humber and North Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership announced that it is expanding its virtual ward service with assistance from remote monitoring firm Inhealthcare.