Our achievements

Posted on 25 Aug 2023

The Trust has won Gold in the NDL Awards in the Driving Value Award category. The award was won following an introduction of a new system which has had huge benefits for both patients and staff, allowing clinicians to use their digital tools more effectively, and providing more efficient and consistent care for patients, through the enabled sharing of information.

Like many Trusts across the NHS, Nottinghamshire Healthcare utilises the RiO electronic patient record (EPR) system to create, manage and share essential service-related patient care notes. As both an inpatient and community healthcare provider, it’s essential the Trust’s staff can utilise this system effectively from any service or healthcare base, from viewing and creating data directly in patient files, to securely sharing information with third-party healthcare organisations for comprehensive care.

The Trust identified several RiO-related processes that could also be significantly improved with the use of NDL Automate.

The Trust’s RiO EPR isn’t connected to the central NHS Spine system, making it difficult to match or trace NHS numbers for new patient registrations. Originally, the Trust’s Applied Information Team would complete this process manually. However, Nottinghamshire Healthcare was able to completely streamline this with an automated process. Improving its ability to verify NHS numbers, the project provides faster access to data for internal and third-party community care providers.

Another integral feature of RiO is its diary and caseload function, allowing users to access patient data, record outcomes and book new appointments. Though mostly used by clinical staff, a wide range of medical secretary teams also require access to support in numerous administrative tasks.

To ensure data confidentiality and security, access to these diary and caseload functions require specific permissions within the RiO system. Particularly during junior doctor rotations, amending these permissions manually was an incredibly time-consuming task. A full cohort can require up to 4,000 account changes on average.

Automating the monitoring and updating process for permissions in RiO has provided faster access to the tools needed for clinicians and medical secretaries to provide consistent and effective care, especially when onboarding a new wave of staff.

Jan Sensier, Executive Director of Partnerships and Strategy said:

It’s fantastic to see this great work recognised. Since the project’s launch, around 58 working days have been saved by the improved processes.The projects have yielded many advantageous benefits for patients and staff, including the obvious time and resources saved. Also providing more efficient and consistent care through the enabled sharing of information. Congratulations to everyone involved in this work.