Electronic records ready for ambulances

Five million patient records could be created per year to help emergency treatment

Ambulances will be able to access patients' information

Ambulances in the North, Midlands and East of England will have electronic care reporting software in place by July that enables them to capture five million patient records each year.

And links with national record systems will enable paramedics to access relevant information from a patient’s record - such as blood pressure and ECG results - to determine the best course of treatment.

All data, including the results of any treatments administered en route, will then be transmitted ahead to an Accident and Emergency Unit, giving hospital clinicians a complete picture of the patient’s history.

'The system allows us to capture quickly and accurately far more information than we ever could on paper,' said John Scott, medical director, East of England Ambulance Trust.

'That information is then instantly available to the emergency department and clinical audit staff.

'As a result, the potential to improve patient outcomes is tremendous,' he said.

The ambulances will be equipped by supplier Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) using software from Canadian-based Medusa Medical Technologies.

CSC is the local service provider for three of the five regions for the £12bn NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT) and the Medusa software will be integrated with its major hospital records systems.

Currently more than 1,000 paramedics and support staff in the North, Midlands and East of England have been trained to use the paperless technology.