South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised as one of the top 10 trusts in an ‘EPR national usability survey’ in at least two category areas. Firstly for its excellence in rolling out its MIYA EPR training and for its ongoing support and service throughout the organisation.
Following this acknowledgement, the digital programme team will generate blueprints in both of these areas for NHS England, who will share this as part of a toolkit for a new EPR optimisation programme.
Other organisations will then be able to follow similar processes to improve their EPR training delivery.
Topic areas included:
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- ‘EPR improves service user outcomes’
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- ‘Timely support with an EHR issue’
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- ‘Workflow training’
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- ‘Initial training prepared me well’
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- ‘Helps achieve workplace safety goals’
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- ‘IT dept seeking to improve EHR for clinicians’
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- ‘EHR changes are well communicated’
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- ‘Timely support with an EHR issue’
Supporting the move to digital records
Digital programme lead, Diane Carter, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with this acknowledgement from NHSE and to know that our trust will be used as an exemplar for EPR training and support.
“When we set out to deliver the training, we acknowledged that digital literacy varied significantly across our workforce, especially when we first introduced digital systems to replace paper.
“So our training was built from the ground up and had to accommodate a wide range of skill levels.
“We ensured we engaged with staff from the outset to understand and observe the readiness of each department and to identify users who may require additional support, so that we could develop training that would work best for each area.
Our team of educators, business change and project managers all work together to ensure that the new systems that are going to be implemented reflect the needs of the users and patient pathways, streamlining services and increasing productivity. This early adoption with users sets the groundwork for the digital change.”
The trust’s MIYA EPR system is developed by Alcidion.
It is used to record patient information, helping to speed up how information is recorded and shared.
Digital business change manager, Niki Idle, said: “We developed a bespoke training programme for departments. This included multiple sessions, one-to-one support and ongoing assistance for those who needed it most, as well as eLearning for more proficient staff members who prefer to learn independently.
“We also use clinical educators to deliver training, who could understand and iron our issues from a clinical perspective and could understand where there may be blockers to enable staff to complete their EPR training. They also work closely with the system analyst team to provide day to day support for our users.
“Our system analysts ensured that users were set up correctly and had the necessary infrastructure in place before we went live.
“The system analysts provide ongoing day to day support of the application, and have a number of self-made tools that allow the team to keep track of usage of the system, but also provide analytical data back to users through reporting for key items such as assessment compliance and missed doses.”
Diane added: “I’d like to thank all the staff that have been involved in the delivery and support of MIYA EPR across the organisation. Our EPR journey has only just began, and we will continue to use the best practices mechanisms to deliver the remaining functionality throughout the organisation.
“However, this acknowledgement has been a huge boost to our team and to the trust and we hope it will inspire staff to continue to drive towards even safer and better care outcomes for our patients through digital innovation.”
Some of the positive feedback received by staff so far
“Thanks to the team for all their support this week helping us launch this on Tocketts Ward you have a brilliant supportive team. Staff have really enjoyed the launch, the training given and look forward to continuing to use it out in the community”
“Can I say I have been on the last two nights and Jo has been ab amazing support not just with the new system but on a very difficult shift on ward 27. So from me personally thank you so much”
“Fab team had them on our ward yesterday. Emma really helped me get my head around the new ePMA system. I love it, so much easier”
“Well done to everyone, including your team Jo. What wonderful teamwork!!! Thank you so much – I really appreciate everything.”
“Love it! Its quick and easy to access, you can easily read documentation compared to paper notes. I find it really good I don’t have to chase paper notes and it’s great for answering Datix. Wish we had it earlier, it would have made life a lot easier.”
“Why has our life been so hard, for so long, it is easy now”