Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals Foundation Trust has selected Swiss Post Solutions (SPS) to deliver a digital transformation solution across the trust. 

The document managing outsourcing company has chosen IMMJ Systems to provide the electronic document management (EDM) component of the overall solution while the EDM Group has been selected to scan and digitise new and existing paper medical records.

The programme aims to release space, time and resources within the trust while enabling clinicians to make fully informed decisions on the basis of readily available information.

Anthony Lundrigan, CIO at the trust, said: “This contract is a key part of our strategy to transform digital care at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals (NNUH).

“This is our first step towards becoming a digital hospital and delivering our five-year digital strategy for the trust and is part of a wider digital strategy for Norfolk and Waveney STP.

“It will introduce new ways of working, making it easier for staff to access and read a patient’s health records, therefore improving care and reducing costs for the NHS. This is a very exciting journey to become paper-lite by 2023.”

The deployment of IMMJ Systems MediViewer will make patient records instantly available to them whenever they are needed, and wherever they are based geographically, providing them with a fully consistent and up-to-date version of patient information which will in turn improve patient care.

Alongside this, IMMJ’s SmartIndex technology facilitates a number of uniquely powerful search capabilities within MediViewer, including real time dynamic indexing, high speed document searching, and industry-leading text filtering functions within the HTML based client app, available on both mobile and desktop platforms.

Lisa Harris, chief operations officer at IMMJ Systems, added: “The level of clinical and stakeholder engagement throughout the tendering and evaluation process demonstrates how significant this programme of work is to the trust.

“Our team will work alongside trust resources to deliver MediViewer and implement transformational change to improve access to patient records and streamline the associated business processes.”

Part of the contract will also involve EDM Group scanning over 140 million images in the first year of the contract. This will be followed by a sustained programme of scanning over subsequent years to ensure as much paper is removed as possible in the shortest timeframe. In total around 236 million images are expected to be captured over four years.

Ruth Gooda, head of healthcare at EDM Group, added: “EDM Group is very proud to have been awarded this high profile contract, which plays to our strengths, experience and expertise.

“We see it as a great opportunity to demonstrate our considerable capabilities in this area and we are looking forward to successfully delivering one of the largest NHS Trust digitisation contracts awarded in recent years.”