From 2020-2022 the Trust worked with partners Restore Information Management, Mizaic (provider of electronic document management system MediViewer) and Apira (digital healthcare consultancy), to digitise more than 50 million pages of patient information. Read about the digitisation project.

Having cleared the backlog of files, the Trust wanted to launch an in-house scanning facility to digitise patient records on an ongoing basis.

Digitisation offers enormous benefits in terms of quicker clinician access to patient records – and therefore better care – less administrative time needed to search for information, more environmentally-friendly practices, and greater control over patient data and workflows.

Setting up an efficient, high-quality process to handle thousands of sensitive records isn’t an easy project for a healthcare provider. The Trust again turned to Restore Information Management for help.

Restore Information Management provided end-to-end consultancy to make sure the in-house operation was a success.

Step 1: Analysis

The Restore Information Management team analysed two years’ worth of ‘day-forward’ (i.e. new, non-backlog) scanning volumes, as well as current patient file processes and the on-site facilities for digitisation.

Step 2: Design

The team designed both the digital workflow process and the physical set-up on site. They advised on room layout, where boxes should be delivered to and picked up from, and how documents should move from one room to the next.

Step 3: Implementation

Restore Information Management reconfigured the existing facility to accommodate the new scanning operation. They sourced and installed equipment, including high volume Kodak desktop scanners and a large format scanner for large format charts. Finally, they trained staff to use both hardware and software, to scan efficiently, and to manage the quality assurance (QA) process.

Restore Information Management also provides ongoing remote support and overflow scanning.

Step 4: Certification

Using its expertise in introducing BS 10008 certified management systems across multiple sites, Restore Information Management was able to lead the Trust to successfully achieve BS 10008 certification.

BS 10008 ensures best practice for the management and storage of electronic data, helping organisations verify and authenticate information to avoid the legal pitfalls of data storage.

Restore Information Management’s consultancy to the Trust on BS 10008 included:

• • Auditing current processes and information management systems against BS 10008 requirements

• • Creating and writing up revised processes to meet BS 10008 requirements

• • Training internal staff to become certified internal auditors (auditing is a requirement to maintain the certification)

• • Collaborating with other departments in the Trust to align and amend policies and improve the Trust’s data and information security processes

• • Facilitating and producing electronic information security risk register to improve the way in which information and data security risks are managed

• • Supporting the Trust to achieve BS 10008 certification within 5 months, with no non-conformities and only positive findings being reported

• • Ongoing consultancy to help maintain certification with the BS 10008 standard

Restore Information Management drew on experience creating similar operations for other healthcare trusts, as well as their partnership with BSI Training, to transform LNWH NHS Trust’s management of patient records. A new in-house BS 10008 certified scanning facility at LNWH NHS Trust, provided rigorous records processing, helped support better patient outcomes, and offered career development for team members.

A new in-house BS 10008 certified scanning facility at LNWH NHS Trust, provided rigorous records processing, helped support better patient outcomes, and offered career development for team members.

Benefits for LNWH include:

• Better patient care: day-forward records are available for clinicians to access in MediViewer, meaning quicker decision making, fewer cancelled appointments and better all-round care
• Staff redeployment and career progression: team members who previously prepared documents for scanning off-site secured higher banded roles within the Medical Records team and elsewhere in the Trust
• Peace of mind from a legal and compliance standpoint: BS 10008 certification achieved in 5 months: an outstanding result, with zero non-conformities in two BSI certification audits
• More environmentally-friendly practices: the in-house facility reduces the need to print, move and store paper, making operations more sustainable and scalable
• Supports NHS digital 2025 strategy: this programme is a major step for the Trust towards achieving the NHS’s goal of 100% electronic patient records by March 2025