Digital patient records will be 'safer and more efficient'
- Published
Chantelle Jolley with her daughter Nylah, the first baby born in NI without any paper records
The first baby has been born in Northern Ireland without any paper records.
It follows a move by the South Eastern Trust to move from paper-based files to an electronic system.
It is the first time health and social care records have been digitised in Northern Ireland.
The Trust said the system, called encompass, will be safer, more efficient and effective.
It will be rolled out to other Trusts on a phased basis over the next 18 to 24 months.
Baby Nylah, born to her mother Chantelle Jolley at the Ulster Hospital on Thursday at 01:25 GMT, was the first person born in Northern Ireland to have a digital-only record.
Dan West, chief digital Information officer at the Department of Health said the move would allow care workers to see the right information at the right time.
It is also hoped it will reduce the duplication of tests.
'Revolutionary'
"It makes managing medicines easier for our pharmacists, and provides better quality data for improvement of our services in the future," added Mr West.
"It is more than just an IT system - it is a clinical and operational change that will help our most precious resources, our staff, to deliver the best services they can to people in Northern Ireland."
In time, everyone in Northern Ireland will be able to access their own patient records using a mobile app called 'MyCare'.
History was made at the Ulster Hospital on Thursday morning when the first babies were born with full digital patient records.
The South Eastern Trust said it will be "revolutionary" but has asked the public to be patient as staff adjust to the new system.
In February, the Department of Health said £113.8m had been spent on the programme with a further £163.9m planned spend over the next five years.
The encompass system has been built by a company called Epic which currently provides electronic records for over 300m people within the UK and across the globe.
BBC News NI has been made aware of some staff concerns about technical problems with the initial system roll out.
The South Eastern Trust has been approached for a response.
Speaking earlier, Dr David Wilson, a consultant involved in implementing encompass, said: "Staff certainly have been nervous but there is also a good bit of excitement out there.
"Of course it is going to take some time to get to grips with the new system, there are going to be teething issues, we're going to be a little slower initially and there may be disruption and technical issues.
"That is to be expected but over the next few weeks we will get back up to speed as staff get used to the new system."