Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board in Wales has received a £6.2 million investment from the Welsh government to implement the national patient administration system Myrddin.
A spokeswoman for the NHS Wales Informatics Service said the investment will help Betsi Cadwaladr to decommission four other PAS systems still in use at the health board, supporting its move towards “one instance" of the Welsh developed system.
“[The PAS] will support the delivery of patient care by providing clinical staff with a patient-centric view of information (currently held on numerous non-integrated departmental systems) in order to support high quality care.”
The aim is to have Myrddin in place as the sole PAS at Betsi Cadwaladr at some point in 2016. The Myrddin PAS was specifically developed for use across Wales by staff at the Hywel Dda University Health Board.
Once implemented at Betsi Cadwaladr it will be in use at six out of seven of Wales’ health boards, with the exception being Cardiff and Vale University Health Board.
The NWIS spokeswoman commented that the priorities regarding the IT investment are to ensure that Betsi Cadwaladr is making full use of the national systems and working towards the ‘once for Wales’ approach. “We aim to build a foundation that all national and local solution components can be built upon,” she said.
The business case for the investment was made by NWIS and Betsi Cadwaladr in September last year. The report says that work on implementing Myrddin began in early 2011, but was delayed due to the decision to review other PAS solutions.
However, any plans for an alternative were “not deemed viable” for financial reasons, with no other sources of funding available to Betsi Cadwaladr other than through the Welsh government, which favours the use of Myrddin across Wales.
The business case also said the need to consolidate the existing four patient management systems is “long overdue”.
In its March newsletter, NHS Wales Informatics Service said the investment will also improve access to the Welsh Clinical Portal. This system acts as a gateway to for clinicians to carry out essential tasks, such as ordering tests, reviewing results and viewing low resolution radiology images.
Vaughan Gething, deputy health minister for Wales, announced details of the investment at Chirk Medical Centre in north Wales.
He said: "this investment will create a modern IT system, making it easier for clinical and administrative staff to work effectively and reduce unnecessary time spent on several different systems. It will improve the way staff manage information during a patient's journey through hospital, from referral to discharge.”