Sheffield NHS trust improves electronic record system

Mental health care group finds new way to manage patient files

Sheffield Care Trust has begun using an electronic medical records system to make patient files more available for use by clinicians.

The trust, which delivers mental healthcare services for adults in the city, is integrating the software with its existing patient administration system, allowing it to comply with rules requiring records to be held indefinitely.

Records kept on fiche and other imaging methods were difficult to read and could not be integrated into the current system, says Sheffield Care Trust’s director of IT, Tom Davidson.

'The OnBase system also makes it easier for us to provide access to documents from anywhere. Right now we are going into 2.5 million pages stored in it,' he said.

'We are trying to move away from complexity for our clinicians, they just want to be able to click and view a document. Many other products have complicated ways to find what you are looking for.'

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Further Reading:

• Report urges IT improvements for Scottish NHS
• NHS Trust improves financial accuracy
• NHS records pilots set to run