Northern Lincolnshire and Goole creates interface between two existing systems

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust has created an interface between two existing computer systems which is speeding up the process of discharging patients safely.

Created by the pharmacy and IT teams, the interface connects WebV, a bespoke in-house electronic patient record (EPR), with the trust’s electronic prescribing and medicines administrations system (ePMA).

By connecting the two, doctors can pull a patient’s medication list straight from ePMA into WebV – which is what is used to complete the discharge paperwork. Not only does this save doctors around 20 minutes per patient by eliminating the need to look up information on ePMA and then manually type it into WebV, but it also eliminates potential typing errors.

Foundation year one doctor, Eman Hasan, said: “Thanks to the (ePMA’s) integration with WebV it’s now easy and straightforward to do discharges. Instead of copying medications one by one, you can easily select all the medications from the patient’s ePMA file and mark these to be continued.

“This was a huge undertaking especially when patients have a big prescription list. I really like how the joint interface displays changes that have been made to medications during admission, for example if they have been discontinued. I find it very practical to use and allows for clearer communication and a much safer handover of care back to the community.”

Already doctors at Scunthorpe General Hospital and Goole and District Hospital have time through using the new system, with the interface planned to go live at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby in September.

Paulash Haider, assistant chief pharmacist, said: “Introducing ePMA has already reduced the number of medication errors at the trust. By taking advantage of the accuracy provided, having this ability to pass this across to the WebV discharge summary gives us the assurance that GPs will get more accurate information and will also mean the list of medication on the discharge summaries will no longer require corrections and multiple amendments.”

Earlier this month, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole announced it was switching to digital letters for notifying patients of upcoming admissions.