The NHS is placing greater emphasis on introducing systems that will have a positive impact on clinical outcomes and patient safety, with initiatives such as the ‘Safer Wards, Safer Hospitals’ Technology Fund.
DONALD KENNEDY, managing director of Patientrack, outlines the conditions that projects must meet if they are to achieve real clinical value, and calls for hospitals to focus on capturing vital signs electronically and introduce automated alerting.
The £260 million ‘Safer Wards, Safer Hospitals’ Technology Fund is an example of the Government getting it right when it comes to investing in the NHS. It represents a sea change in IT investment strategies: instead of supporting IT solutions that focus on administrative efficiencies, it is providing match funding for projects that concentrate on using IT to improve patient safety and the patient experience, and create a better working environment for healthcare professionals. This change in focus has been driven by NHS England listening to what doctors and nurses are saying they need from IT to deliver immediate and real clinical value. According to comments made by Tim Kelsey, national director for patients and information for NHS England, the two priorities for doctors are the ability to safely prescribe on the ward and access to real-time ward-based observations on their patients.
Taking leadership of the technology revolution
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