Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to deploy Allscripts electronic patient record
Rollout will create full EPR and prepare for closer working with other trusts
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has chosen Allscripts to deliver an electronic patient record and help it achieve its digital ambitions over the next 10 years.
The trust, which runs two major hospitals and is a regional cancer centre, already uses the Allscripts patient administration system following a go-live in October last year.
It will now roll out the Sunrise clinical suite in a phased deployment that is likely to start next autumn.
Chief executive, Miles Scott, who took up the leadership of the trust in January, said: “My ambition is to deliver outstanding staff and patient experience. Sunrise will support that by giving clinicians the information they need to deliver excellent patient care.
“At the same time, investment in digital solutions will give us the data we need to respond to the demand and financial pressures we are facing.”
Director of IT, Michael Beckett, said the trust’s deployment of the Allscripts PAS made Sunrise a ‘natural progression’ for the organisation.
He added: “This trust cannot meet its objectives using a best-of-breed solution. We need a single EPR to support users, and Allscripts is the best fit for us.”
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells is committed to rolling out a full EPR, including order communications and test results, e-prescribing, clinical documents, and Sunrise Mobile Care. It will deploy Sunrise Emergency Care in its A&E department, and Sunrise Surgical Care in theatres.
Jim MacDonald, chif clinical information officer, said clinicians had been fully involved in reviewing the clinical suite and had been impressed by the way it captured and displayed data.
“At the moment clinicians move between paper and IT systems to find the information they need,” he said. “Having the right information, in the right place, at the right time, will enable us to improve our working processes and patient care.”
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells’ decision to go with Sunrise should also support closer working between health and care organisations in Kent.
Neighbouring East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust is an Allscripts PAS and Sunrise customer, having signed up for Sunrise in December 2016. Nearby Medway NHS Foundation Trust is an Allscripts PAS customer.
Steve Brain, vice president and UK managing director of Allscripts, said: “Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells’ decision to extend its relationship with Allscripts is a huge vote of confidence in us as a digitisation partner, and we look forward to working with them on a full breadth and depth EPR deployment.
“As organisations across Kent start to form an integrated care service, it is vital that the EPRs used by the areas main hospitals are open and interoperable and ready to share information with each other.
“Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells’ decision to select Sunrise puts the whole area in a much better position to move forward with this agenda and we also look forward to supporting it on that journey.”