Hospital staff train for digital record rollout

The hospitals said the new system would cut down on admin work for staff

Hospital staff were being trained to use new electronic patient record systems, which would replace paper documents.

The multi-million pound software was being rolled out at Ipswich Hospital and Colchester Hospital, both part of the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

The overall cost of the upgrade was expected to reach "several tens of millions of pounds over a ten-year period", according to hospital bosses.

The chief executive of both hospitals, Nick Hulme, said some staff may need to undertake training on days off to meet the 2 October targeted switchover.

Chief executive of Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, Nick Hulme, said the change would be "transformative"

Mr Hulme said the hospitals currently run on a paper-based record system.

"With that comes risk and it's expensive and it's not the most efficient way to provide healthcare," he added.

He said the new system, called Epic, will give medical staff access to full patient records, including test results and GP letters.

Patients will also be able to use a new app to see their own information, appointment details and prescriptions.

Mr Hulme said the new software, developed by an American firm, was "not the cheapest by any means" but was the "best in class".

He said most of the funding for the project came from the government, but there would be savings gained from not having to pay for different software licences - the hospitals currently run around 50 various programs.

The hospitals also currently spend millions on stationery every year, and it's thought those expenses would come down.

'Training is one of our biggest challenges'

Mr Hulme said staff training had begun, and the length of time it would take depended on the staff member's role. He said his own training would take around three hours, but other staff members may need a full day.

He added that 94% of staff had their training scheduled.

"We're making sure it is as convenient as possible for staff, obviously not everybody can have the training on the specific day they might want to, so some people might have to come in on different days and get the time back," he explained.

Mr Hulme said he expected it to be "business as usual at the hospitals" but asked the public to "bear with us" as things may take longer than usual initially.