Nearly 300 families are using Liverpool Community Health NHS Trust’s electronic version of the Redbook children’s health record.
The trust began piloting the eRedbook in North of Sefton and Central Liverpool in January 2013. Since then, the project has grown and nearly 300 parents are now using it.
The Redbook is a record of a child’s health and development including details of tests and immunisations.
The electronic version has been developed by Year Zero, part of the Technology Strategy Board’s Dallas Programme, using technology developed by software provider SiteKit, in partnership with Harlow Printing, and is hosted by Microsoft’s HealthVault.
Jane Banks, Year Zero Lead for the trust said Liverpool wants to embrace new technologies such as the eRedbook.
“The eRedbook is a really exciting new health tool which has the potential to revolutionise how parents, health visitors, GPs, and other health professionals work together to improve the health of children and families,” she said.
“I would encourage any parents or carers with babies or toddlers in Liverpool or Sefton to consider signing up if they haven’t already.”
The aim is that children who start life with an eRedbook will have a digital patient record throughought their lives, and parents can manage their children’s personal record online.
It will also give parents or guardians the ability to share the record with other health professionals.
Over the coming weeks, the trust will be working closely with parents and health visitors to continue to test and refine the system for wider use.
The trust is one of four organisations that have piloted the eRedbook. The others are: NHS Grampian; South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust and Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust.
Liverpool Community Health has been shortlisted for the EHI Awards 2014 for the project.