NHS trust's £10m digital shift to 'transform care'

Bluford Bear, pictured with staff member Bradley Wickett, is the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust's mascot for its new electronic patient record system

A £10m digital system introduced at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust will give staff real-time access to patient records and transform care, managers say.

The trust said CareFlow, supplied by healthcare provider System C, would unify a number of legacy systems across its hospitals and community services into one trust-wide platform.

Future phases of the programme, planned for 2026 and 2027, will replace paper-based assessments and charts with digital systems.

The trust's managing director Gwen Nuttall said the launch marked "a significant milestone" and the new system would "reduce duplication and improve communication".

She added: "It's an exciting step forward for both staff and patients."

The trust said CareFlow, which impacts patients in New Cross, Cannock Chase and West Park hospitals, was part of a wider strategy to use technology to improve patient experience and prevent admission, or reduce time in hospital.

NHS England's director of digital transformation Dermot Ryan said the move would "transform the way care is delivered".

He added: "Moving to a single trust-wide patient administration system... will lead to significant improvements, including streamlining workflows, reducing administrative tasks and improving data accessibility."