Alder Hey Children’s Hospital (Liverpool, UK) recently went LIVE with a new emergency department solution integrated into its MEDITECH Electronic Patient Record (EPR), enabling direct appointment scheduling from NHS 111, NHS 111 Online, and various national services. They are the first healthcare organisation in the region to develop and incorporate this type of solution within its EPR.
The fully integrated solution is a result of collaboration between Alder Hey, MEDITECH, North West Ambulance Service, Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, and WASP Software Ltd.
“Alder Hey achieved the NHS 111 First mandate from the Secretary of State, and also delivered a fully CareConnect compliant solution,” said Daniel Hallen, Head of Digital Technology and Digital Urgent and Emergency Care, NHS England and Improvement. “In a time of competing priorities, it is especially impressive to take a solution from idea to delivery in a little over a month.”
Recently, the NHS outlined new mandates to ensure that NHS 111 maintains its place as the ‘first line of defence’ for the Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) system. One of these requirements is for healthcare organisations to enable direct bookings through NHS 111.
ED patients are urged to contact NHS 111 where they will be screened by a single Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) to determine whether they should go to the ED, visit their local GP, see a pharmacist, or call an ambulance. This ensures that patients are directed to the proper care setting. Appointments can then be booked through NHS 111 into the MEDITECH EPR, along with notes from the call uploaded to the system.
“We are delighted to be able to integrate this solution into our EPR to make things as easy as possible for our brilliant ED team,” said Alder Hey Chief Digital and Information Officer Kate Warriner. “This is the latest example of how collaborative technology can enhance patient care.”
The ability for NHS 111 to triage and schedule patients directly to the EPR will help alleviate ED overcrowding and reduce wait times. This is of particular importance during the pandemic, as organisations are challenged with increasing numbers of COVID-19 patients.
“This solution is fully integrated into MEDITECH, unlike options being considered by other organisations which can require running up to two additional systems. Using interoperability standards, in record time we have delivered a seamless experience to the user,” said Mike Hooton, Technical Executive, MEDITECH UK. “We are proud to be able to work together, in a short timeframe, to deliver an interoperable solution that will make an impact on patient care now as well as into the future.”
Caring for more than 330,000 children, young people, and families every year, Alder Hey is a certified HIMSS 6 hospital, a participant in the NHS GDE programme, and one of Europe’s biggest and busiest children’s hospitals. It will be one of the first MEDITECH NHS customers in the UK to leverage the web-based Expanse technology.
