Starting in 2014, STH NHS Foundation Trust launched a five-year technology transformation programme after a successful bid to secure Department of Health funding for a new Electronic Patient Record system. The new Electronic Patient Record is just one part of a £35 million Transformation Through Technology programme which will revolutionise how patient care is delivered in the City’s adult hospitals and in community health services.
Sector: NHS & Healthcare
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK's largest, busiest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. They provide a full range of hospital and community services for people in Sheffield, as well as specialist care for patients from further afield.
Background
To facilitate the change to the EDMS, existing historical patient notes needed to be scanned using a phased approach across the Trust.
Restore have been delivering digital transformation services to the NHS and private hospitals for many years. Each hospital has a specific level of integration with their chosen EDMS and PAS systems, our approach is to have a Transition Manager who will ensure testing and samples are carried out and a statement of works is created, signed off and adhered to.
As the EDMS was rolled out across the Trust, the Medical Records Team picked and scanned existing records prior to clinics. Restore provided an offsite scanning service, five-days a week, with a five-day turnaround alongside 48 hour and four-hour emergency SLA’s.
Results
Collections are now three times a week from STH and all files are logged and tracked from STH’s Pinpoint system through to Restore’s MI tracking and warehouse management system O’Neil.
This ensures we have full visibility of all records in both physical and electronic formats throughout the process, allowing the Trust to securely destroy the files after 30 days with Restore’s Datashred division.
Through the pandemic, the contract has continued to be extended to ensure a smooth continuation of service. This meant the Trust could concentrate on dealing with the pandemic rather than applying valuable resource to a tender process. All images are delivered to the trust via a secure N3 connection (migrated to HSCN in 2018), before ingestion into their EDMS.
We expanded our services within STH to include Charles Clifford Dental Hospital, archive scan, with 550 boxes scanned each year in 2020/21. We also work with the Neuroscience department, scanning over 300 boxes and installed four Kodak printers as well as one format printer at Northern General and Royal Hallamshire .
Project Benefits
- Operational scale: successfully delivering projected volumes while providing additional flexibility in capacity, through a network of UK wide scanning centres.
- Experienced operational teams: With a long-term commitment, in-depth training and the depth and resilience to ensure delivery to SLA’s.
- Continuous improvement: Imbedded into our project teams is the desire to constantly improve projects. Through regular dialogue, meetings and MI reporting efficiencies, our teams work closely with STH, to confidently deliver successful projects.
- Contract governance: A dedicated full team of operational, PMO, technical, account management and executive sponsorship to deliver contract assurance.
- Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery: Through our ISO 23001 certification and an additional four scanning sites in the UK, any project disruptions are minimal.
- Complete chain of custody: Seamless interaction between Restore Digital and Datashred Divisions, STH are confident in the safety, security and confidentiality of your records. Scanned boxes are destroyed after 30 days.
We have been long term partners with Restore Digital, due to their quality of service; strong Account Management; and agility to their service to our needs. They helped us achieve key strategic aims, and provided a complete chain of custody of records, as they didn't need to outsource storage or secure destruction.
Ian Purdy | Head of Operational – Services Informatics
Key Facts
- 1 million library files over eight years
- 4.6m single attendance or admission files over four years
- Scanning up to 140 boxes per week