Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

KEN FULLERTON

In these days of the internet, the patients are quite surprised to discover that we have been using bits of paper and posting things between hospitals, that it can take days, sometimes, for records from another hospital to turn up.

For instance, it's not unusual at an outpatient clinic for the patient to turn up, for the doctor to be there, and the notes haven't appeared. Previously, the patient would have had to go home again until we found the notes. Now, the information that we need is all available online. We can see the patient right away, and there's no longer a problem.

DARSHAN KUMAR

Electronic care record gives us information about patients when they have been in the other hospitals. The main thing is, it preventing duplication because we know these tests or investigations have been done, or the patient has been under somebody for the relevant problems. So there's no need to reinvent the wheel or redo all the investigations.

ELIZABETH CONNOLLY

Instead of having to look at multiple different systems, different programmes for clinic letters, different letters for-- or different programmes for labs, different programmes for-- actually, it's all there. You know, it's really, really quick. It just gives you-- you can assess their history really quickly so you-- there's obviously more time with the patient, quicker admissions, quicker in clinic, quicker on the ward.

LAURENCE BURKE

Even before patients arrive with us on the ward, I'm able to get the information from the electronic care record, get all of their relevant previous medical history, find out what conditions they've got, see if the admission is related to a condition that they've already got or already seeing somebody for, or whether it's something new that's shown up. That way, I think we're armed with as much information as we can about the patient.

DAVID PATTON

Hello, this is Dr. David Patton here, one of the emergency medicine registrars.

PAUL TURKINGTON

We're all well practised at following family members, GPs, and nursing homes to get the information you need to collect together a picture of the patient. And I think the ECR is a tool that helps with that. It doesn't replace the need to talk to the patient and the family and all that. But it's a great extra addition to that.

SHANE MCKEE

I would see patients very often in quite a complex care scenario. We see genetic patients so they're maybe seeing a number of different specialists for lots of different things. So if we can see all their information, and all the number of specialists that they're seeing, and when they're seeing them up on the screen, it allows us then to coordinate their care a lot better, to understand their needs, and to see if there are any gaps in their care that perhaps need to be filled in. So it helps us to join up the whole process and make the appointment process itself, which can often be quite long-- we would normally see people for maybe 45 minutes. But it makes that process much more efficient, so we can get a lot more done within that time.

PAUL MCKEAGNEY

My work is as a respiratory consultant. So I have lots of people with chronic diseases. And I work particularly closely with the south and east community teams. So we have a lot of patients who may go between different hospitals. So the system means that I can access records from other hospitals, particularly blood results, sputum results, or actuary reports for my patients who may go to a different hospital. So logging into this one system means that everything is brought together and that I can see what has been done previously to make sure that I'm not duplicating or repeating unnecessary examinations. But it also helps appropriate treatment as well.

TARA HASLETT

I would use the laptop with the MiFi, so I connect into the Trust system. And then that takes me into the ECR. I have a work list, where I have my own patients and one of my colleague's patients on that list.

If I arrive to the house, the patient wasn't there, I can see if they've landed into A&E as well. I can see if they've got a pending outpatient appointment.

NICKY BROWN

Because I cover quite a large geographical area, that I'm not always on base, the fact that I can remotely access ECR from any area within my locality-- if a patient phones me, I can look up their information very speedily, see what their last admission was, what treatments they're on, any allergies, any sort of urgent medication that they have needed. And it just helps me in diagnosing that patient and treating them appropriately to keep them out of hospital.

NATASHA JAMISON

good thing about ECR is that it's web-based, so you can access it via PC, via tablet, via your mobile phone. As long as it's on the secure network, the Trust network, you can access it anywhere, so inside and outside of hospital.

SHANE MCKEE

Patient medical information, of course, is very sensitive, and it's very personal to the patient themselves. So they do need to be reassured that full confidentiality will be maintained, so there's a consent process that we take them through whenever we're opening up their record on the electronic care record.

RUTH GILMARTIN

I'm carrying notes for my pregnancy. This is 2013. It should probably all be computerised so that I don't have to carry around a document to say I'm pregnant, and here are my notes.

NOEL CONLON

To bring everything in under the one umbrella would be a tremendous achievement. To follow your Belfast City Hospital number and be able to immediately go to the A&E and be able to identify on the screen immediately with your history, ancestry, and whatever you're getting treated for in an instant would be undoubtedly a fantastic achievement.

PAMELA O'LOAN

I'm a diabetic with high blood pressure. And sometimes it's very difficult to remember the names of the pills I use. So I think it's a great idea that they would have everything to hand, if you went from one place to another, that you don't have to give the same information to one doctor, another doctor, and another doctor.

KEN FULLERTON

I use it every day. It's the first system I turn on in the morning. I bring it with me when I do ward rounds. I use it whenever I'm in the outpatient clinic. It's been brilliant, a really successful system.