Southern Medical Group had accumulated many years’ worth of paper patient records. These records occupied large amounts of clinical and administrative space, creating a cluttered working environment and making patient information difficult to locate when needed. In some cases, staff were working in repurposed rooms filled with cupboards and boxes of files.

With funding secured to digitise records and reconfigure the practice layout, the challenge was to scan and convert these records quickly and efficiently. This needed to be achieved while maintaining uninterrupted access to patient information for clinical teams, so that valuable space could be released for new treatment rooms, additional offices, and a modernised reception area.

With funding only available until the end of March 2020, a fast, structured approach was agreed. Due to limited space on site, records were removed from the practice in two tranches.

Each batch of boxes was packed by the practice and collected by our team and the contents checked against inventories prepared by the practice staff before scanning.

In just three weeks, the scanning work was completed and ready to be uploaded to the practice’s electronic document management system. We also provided a tried and tested ‘Scan on Demand’ service, committing to locate and scan any unscanned records within hours to ensure clinicians always had timely access to the correct records.

• ~200 boxes of patient records scanned

• Records fully prepared for upload into the electronic document management system

• Space freed up for new clinical treatment rooms

• A transformed reception area

• Previously cramped spaces repurposed into offices for seven staff members

Since completion, the practice has benefitted from a significantly improved working environment and better access to information, transforming how they use their space.

• 160+ GP practices involved 

• 1 million+ patient records scanned 

• 90 sites fully digitised so far 

• 50% of the ICB’s population already digitised