Mid-Yorks NHS Trust streamlines clinician communications

The Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust has completed a digital dictation workflow project key to efficiencies and reduced cost requirements for completing the merger and redevelopment of its services.

The Trust was formed in April 2002 from a merger of the former Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals NHS Trust and Dewsbury Health Care NHS Trust. But its clinicians inherited three different analogue dictation systems for recording key patient notes, reports and letters to GPs, making transfer of transcription work between sites impossible without further investment.

Paul Curley, consultant surgeon and clinical director of surgical services, Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, led an NHS-funded pilot to test new ways of working and new technologies as part of a £13 million turnaround strategy, in preparation for the delivery of new multi-million pound hospitals opening in Pontefract and Wakefield in 2010/11.

"The trust produces highly confidential and deadline-critical dictation on a day-to-day basis, so a secure, stable dictation system with the ability to prioritise is essential," he said. "One of the critical technologies identified was digital dictation."

The implementation of BigHand 3 dictation and workflow systems has enabled consultants at the trust to record essential notes digitally for transcription and share work securely between 700 users, across four sites that serve a combined local population of 500,000.

Andy Weissenborn, Mid-Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust information management and technology project manager, oversaw the move to the new systems and added: "BigHand's layer of technical support and overall system is very good. In less than six weeks we implemented BigHand 3 to over 700 users."

Weissenborn said the system had to be customised and re-profiled to fit specific requirements as an NHS Trust.

Curley added: "The handheld and fixed dictation devices are intuitive and familiar and the software interface is easy to navigate. Secretaries are now able to transcribe across specialities and across hospital sites from any location. We are keen to use BigHand to ensure the turnaround of patient information in the appropriate timescales. And its reporting function will enable us to measure our performance against our aim to have GP and patient information delivered in a timely and accurate manner."

The system also supports remote working using Blackberry and mobile phone platforms but the trust has not introduced these capabilities as yet.

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