Southampton implements paperless system to link city Walk-in Centres
29 August 2007: Patients and staff at Southampton’s three NHS Walk-in Centres are set to benefit from the implementation of a community-wide electronic patient record and nurse-led consultation system created by Clinical Solutions.
Current systems at the Shirley and Bitterne Walk-in Centres have been updated, and the technology has been implemented at the Southampton (Central) Walk-in Centre, based at the Royal South Hants hospital. This will enable all three Walk-in Centres to store and share patient and staff information and to operate as one virtual care centre. The system will also enable a significant reduction in the amount of paper used.
Southampton City Primary Care Trust (PCT) will benefit from the ability to identify when there is capacity at the Walk-in Centres for more patients, allowing for better management of departments and enabling staff rotation. Patients will be able to visit any of Southampton's three Walk-in Centres confident that their records will be available for nurses to consult. In addition, it also provides clinical decision support for triage nurses.
Clinical Solutions and Southampton City PCT are also working in partnership to develop options for integrating the Walk-in Centres with other healthcare systems in the city.
Graeme Eccles, Buisness Manager for Clinical Solutions said, “We have been working in close partnership with Southampton City PCT for a number of years to develop a more effective delivery of care to patients at the Walk-in Centres and throughout their primary care services. The expansion of the Clinical Solutions system across the three sites will reduce the work placed on healthcare professionals, and in turn help provide better care for patients.”
The agreement between Clinical Solutions and Southampton City PCT will initially run for 12 months.
