February 2023 – Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust (MTW) has successfully deployed Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise™ electronic prescribing and medicines administration (ePMA) functionality trust-wide, which includes two hospitals and two emergency departments, accelerating the trust’s digital maturity.

MTW first went live with Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise EPR 18 months ago, in September 2021, laying the foundation of the trust’s 10-year digital transformation strategy. It has improved operational efficiency and patient outcomes, and played an important role in helping the trust rank seventh out of 120 trusts nationally for its services to patients.

ePMA, the latest ambitious phase of transformation, is now live across the trust, embedded within the EPR. This will improve patient safety by reducing medication errors and improve experiences for clinicians as the EPR is able to enhance their workflows and release time for patient care.

The system will enable accurate, timely prescribing processes, operating as an assistive tool for clinicians. “The system is going to completely transform ways of working for our pharmacists, many of whom are working digitally for the first time,” said Mildred Johnson, Chief Pharmacist and Chair of EPMA Project Board, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

The system will increase prescriber awareness when duplicate high-risk medicines are prescribed, starting with anti-coagulants, reducing medication errors and giving pharmacists extra assurance. “We expect this to be especially valuable in busy periods, when medication errors can be more likely,” explained Mildred. “The system has been set up for an alert to be generated when there is a high-level drug interaction during the prescribing process.”

The roll out was carefully conducted over just two weekends building on learnings from previous go-lives, as well as multiple trial runs before launch. Programme Director for EPR and Digital Transformation at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Foundation Trust, Jane Saunders said, “The success of the project was down to the thorough training, preparation and support put in place before and throughout the go-lives. The trial runs we conducted especially helped us to make better operational decisions and streamline the launch, causing minimal disruption to patient care.”

Eighty percent of nurses were trained before go-live, with training methods including videos, webinars, written guides and face-to-face sessions, so staff could select the best approach for them. This meant that little support was required by nursing staff from the pharmacy ambassadors and transcribing team who were superusers.

Mildred said, “We’re seeing a major benefit to our on-call doctors and pharmacists, who are now able to prescribe remotely as they can access the system from anywhere. It means our clinical staff on wards are spending less time on the phone to get medication prescribed and can spend more time with patients.”

Reflecting on the go-live, Jane said, “The fact we have been able to achieve such rapid and impactful transformation is testament to the collaboration between our team and Altera Digital Health.

“Our mission is to offer outstanding care and this latest go-live is helping us to achieve that. Our digital journey is underpinned by our EPR, and this is a major step.”

Dr Anna Bayes, International Medical Director, Altera Digital Health, said, “The dedication from the team at MTW underpinned by robust clinical engagement has enabled the trust to take a significant step in its digital transformation whilst enhancing patient safety.”

Next, MTW will work towards piloting Electronic Discharge Notification (EDN) across four wards in the next month as well as rolling out ePMA in maternity later this year, with Paediatrics to follow in 2024.

The trust will also deploy the Sunrise™ Surgical Care solution alongside the Provation® iPro anaesthetic record later this year.

ENDS

Media Contact

Charlotte Tovey, Silver Buck (on behalf of Altera Digital Health)
charlotte@silver-buck.com
07852462266

About Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Foundation Trust

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust in the south east of England. Its core catchment areas are Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells and their surrounding boroughs, and it operates from two main clinical sites: Maidstone Hospital and Tunbridge Wells Hospital at Pembury. The latter is a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) hospital and provides wholly single bedded en-suite accommodation for in-patients.

The Trust employs over 6,700 full and part-time staff. It provides a full range of general hospital services and some areas of specialist complex care to around 500,000 people living in Kent and East Sussex, as well as hosting one of the largest oncology centres in the UK (serving 1.9 million patients).

About Altera Digital Health

Altera Digital Health is a global healthcare IT innovator. With more than 30 years of experience, we develop technology to connect and inspire healthier communities. Our platform approach to solutions provides a fast, flexible and clinically driven roadmap towards digital maturity across integrated care systems.

With more than 2,700 hospitals in more than 15 countries, our solutions support healthcare providers, governments and military institutions around the world. By keeping the human user at the centre of our design methodology, we are supporting caregivers and helping patients meet and exceed their wellness goals. Together, with our clients, we’re driving a new era of healthcare. To learn more, visit uk.alterahealth.com.