Clinically Led. Operationally Supported. Digitally Enabled.
B.Digital is the name of the Trust's digital transformation programme, underpinning the delivery of the 2023-2026 Digital Plan.
Our mission is to enhance care through digital innovation and data-led decision making by transitioning from paper-based operations to digital solutions. This will have vast benefits for our colleagues, patients and their families.
We will use technology to connect people and systems within the Trust and right across the area's health and social care system.
Key projects which will be delivered as part of the programme include:
- Replacing our Patient Administration System (PAS). Our PAS helps us keep a log of our care, such as who has been seen, when, by whom and why
- Roll out of an ICS-wide Electronic Patient Record (EPR). This will help us digitise our current paper forms which will ultimately improve our quality and efficiency of our care
- Roll out of an ICS-wide Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)
- Further development of our Nexus Patient Record (NPR). NPR helps us track patients around the hospital and the capacity on our wards
Frequently Asked Questions
An Electronic Patient Record (EPR) will provide clinicians with more information at their fingertips to make better, more effective decisions. They’ll have automatic access to decision support tools, meaning their decisions will be made based on the best available information. They will be able to take information from many sources.It makes staff more efficient and creates a smoother care journey for our patients. It will enhance communication across clinicians and teams, reduce duplication and reduce some of the data collection burdens from people by capturing some things automatically.
Paper records will be replaced by digital records and there will be new ways of working introduced to take advantage of this digital approach. It will make a number of administrative tasks easier to manage as information will flow around the organisation more easily.
Electronic Patient Records will start to be built as soon as the system is introduced. Over time paper records will gradually become less relevant and the need to access and store them will reduce. Paper records that need to be accessible on the new system can be scanned in and there is also functionality built in to create forms.
However, the EPR is not intended to be a direct replacement for all paper notes, as in many cases there is a better way of doing things electronically. This transformation project will impact on all members of the team and we’ll be looking at workflows of all specialities to design smooth processes.
Access to records will only be available to authorised staff and there is a strict governance policy around this. The information will be stored off site and the data will therefore be less vulnerable to cyber-attack or to outside agencies. All patient data will be stored in the UK.
The Trust currently has over 310 different IT systems, each with its own specific purpose and audience. Over the next three years we’ll be looking to consolidate this number both within the Trust and across the Integrated Care System (ICS).
Our Digital Plan
*Please note that this PDF may not be fully accessible to screen readers. To request an accessible version, please contact bfwh.trustcommunications.net.
