Worcestershire starts paper records overhaul

John Thornbury said before the trust completely digitises paper records, it needs to "dramatically reduce costs" and "the issues around the availability of records". He said that before he took on the post, the trust paid little attention to records management and as a result there were a large amount of duplicate paper documents. The director talked about corridors being littered with patient records before the trust began its new strategy. "They didn't pay attention to the reduplication of records, which has now left me with a huge problem, paper chasing the notes round and round the hospital," Thornbury told the Smart Healthcare Live conference in London on 16 June 2010. As part of the re-design process, the trust has already cut the number of forms from 1500 to around 300 and reduced missing notes from 1.6% down 0.8% in six months. "We're starting with redesigning the process first, bringing in the digital world, engaging with clinicians, medical secretaries, the whole staff that interact with medical records, and then in 2012 one will be able to bring paper records into digital format so we have a single solution to provide safer care for patients," Thornbury said. There is currently a two tier records process that needs to be eliminated, he added. "We've got the paper process that most of the clinicians focus on and they will occasionally interact with the medical record. This process is part of a service improvement to bring the two together so we have a single view of the information the clinicians need to deliver care, wherever they are delivering care." Worcestershire has outsourced the digitisation and full management of its health records to Xerox in a ten year contract worth £12.8m. The process is being carried out in two phases. The first involves taking over the current patient records process including key staff and facilities across the trust, while the second will enable the digitised patient records to be accessed by the trust's clinicians and key medical staff through an online portal. Thornbury is confident that the project will be successful. "The key to success is having an overarching strategy incorporating document management and not leaving it alone as an island," he added.