2021 – Kent trust has elevated its ambitions for digital maturity, deploying Allscripts’ Sunrise EPR to encourage joined up care. The move makes Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells the second of four acute trusts in the region to implement Allscripts Sunrise EPR.

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust has deployed Sunrise EPR across the emergency departments at both its hospitals, as well as paediatric inpatient services, gastroenterology and neurology outpatients, and ordering tests and making referrals trust wide. Despite only being a few weeks in, the trust is already experiencing impressive clinical benefits. “The new system has provided functionality that enables our teams to seamlessly share patient data, supporting the further development of a shared care record for Kent”, commented Jane Saunders, EPR Director at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

The trust selected Allscripts as its EPR provider in 2019 and the recent go-live marks a big step forward for the trust’s digital maturity, helping to fulfil its ‘digital first, paper second’ strategy. The early clinical benefits for the trust have been notable, improving and digitising previously manual, time-consuming processes. Jane added that “just two weeks in, 1,200 daily users were able to deliver 30,000 tests and 170,000 results into the system. Labelling, that had previously been completed manually, has now been automated, saving hospital staff eight hours per day processing pathology forms. As a result, our clinicians have been able to spend more time with patients and have better visibility of each patient’s care pathway as all their information is recorded and stored within the EPR.”

Such early success, Jane adds, was made possible by how usable Sunrise is, and the structured training provided to get clinicians used to the new technology. “We took a blended approach, with in person and online training, even being able to conduct one-to-ones with those who were more nervous about using the technology. As a result, we were able to get 78% of staff fully trained ahead of deployment, meaning clinicians were able to make the most out of all their processes being integrated from day one.”

The flexibility and adaptability of Sunrise has also been recognised by staff across the trust. Peter Maskell, Medical Director, said: “It’s really intuitive. Clinicians are coming to me and saying, ‘oh, this is so easy’ and they have begun thinking about how it could be configured for their department’s specific needs. Most importantly, we’re able to review and take stock of what’s working well and how we can adapt to make the most of its flexibility.”

“In the Emergency Department, workflows are being transformed. Previously, clinicians would be walking around to manually track patients, or to review notes from junior doctors,” Sue Forsey, Director of IT, adds. “Now, all processes are stored in Sunrise, so notescan be reviewed or exchanged without having to take the trip down to ED. The tab functionality within Sunrise also allows our clinical teams to use the EPR to easily access other applications acting as a portal so they have the right information, in the right place, when they need it. Our patients will experience less repetition too as all clinicians in their care pathway will have greater visibility of their needs.”

Sue also relayed the positivity from the trust’s phlebotomists. “I think they’re the happiest people in the hospital. Their entire workflow is stored in a single, focused place, so they have all the information in front of them when they need it.”
The trust has more plans, including regional ambitions, that the go-live has the potential to unlock.

Jane says: “The next step for the trust is to deploy Sunrise across all inpatient adult wards for core clinical documents before rolling out ePMA within 2021/22. We’re keen to see what else we can digitise, so we can support the continued integration of the Kent and Medway Shared Care Record.

“We now have a ‘single tab’ to access shared data directly from Sunrise, which will enable us to work with neighbouring trusts in a more seamless way. The trust provides cancer services for the whole region, which is one of the most populous In tegrated Care Systems in England, so the increased capabilities for data sharing provide a promising foundation for more joined up, and ultimately better care, for patients.”

As a partner, Allscripts were “as much a part of our team as we are a part of theirs” concluded Sue. They’ve helped us to take steps towards digital maturity and think differently about our data strategies for the future.”

ENDS

About Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust

Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust is a large acute hospital Trust in the south east of England. The Trust was legally established on 14 February 2000 and provides a full range of general hospital services, and some areas of specialist complex care to around 560,000 people living in the south of West Kent and the north of East Sussex.

The Trust’s 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 a team of over 5000 full and part-time staff. In addition, the Trust provides specialist cancer services to around 1.8 million people across Kent, Hastings and Rother, via the Kent Oncology Centre, which is sited at Maidstone Hospital, and at Kent and Canterbury Hospital in Canterbury. The Trust also provides outpatient clinics across a wide range of locations in Kent and East Sussex.

About Allscripts

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