The UK’s first electronic patient tagging pilot is being expanded to cover all patients admitted for ear, nose and throat (ENT) or thoracic surgery.

Once in place, all patients on five wards at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital (BHH) will be fitted with radio frequency identification (RFID) bracelets, which will be linked to a digital photograph and the electronic medical records for their visit.

The technology was piloted last year (Computing, 3 February 2005) and has been so successful that Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust is looking for suppliers for a larger version serving the three ENT and thoracic operating theatres at the inner-city hospital.

‘We are trying to use new technology to improve patient safety and efficient management of operating theatres,’ said David Morgan, consultant ENT surgeon at BHH.

The system is accessible via handheld devices. When a patient arrives in a certain part of the hospital their details are automatically available to clinicians.

It is also linked to hospital systems so the operation schedules displayed on computer screens in wards, theatres and recovery rooms are constantly updated.

Traditionally, patients are identified by wristbands, medical notes are physically carried from place to place, and theatre schedules hastily rewritten as things change. Mix-ups can result in patients having the wrong records, the wrong drugs being administered, and even the wrong surgery being performed.

‘Before, we used a manual system whereby I would pick up a paper list in the morning and wander around trying to find my patients,’ said Morgan.

‘And when they came into the operating theatre we then had to manually check their notes against their wristband.

‘Now, instead of the printed list we have computer screens and when the patient comes into the ward they are given an RFID tag linked to their electronic patient record,’ he said.

The new contract is worth around £300,000 and will build on the pilot developed by Safe Surgery Systems.