Minister Nadine Dorries announced that £8.7 million has been made available for hospitals to get digital patients records which means that medication can be prescribed digitally and reduce errors by up to 30%.
The £8.7 million has been divided across 7 hospital trusts ensuring that more healthcare staff and patients will benefit from single patient records as e-prescribing and digital records are introduced. The new funding was introduced by Nadine Dorries, minister for Patient Safety, on World Patient Safety day on 17 September.
130 NHS Trusts have already received the new system as part of a £78 million investment as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan.
Lifesaving information like patient history and prescribed medicines can now be easily and quickly accessed, reducing duplications and reduces errors with 30% all thanks to a more complete, single electronic patient record.
Imperial College London arranged a virtual conference to celebrate World Patient Safety Day, and this is where the funding was announced.
The focus of this year’s event was on health worker safety during the coronavirus pandemic. It was noted that overcoming workplace issues like work load pressure, discrimination and stress can be achieved by creating a safer environment for healthcare workers resulting in patient harm be minimized.
Speaking at the Imperial College London event, Minister for Patient Safety Nadine Dorries said:
“World Patient Safety Day this year comes at a more important time than ever, with healthcare systems and workers across the world tested like never before.
“In my role I have seen first-hand the dedication and care demonstrated by so many of my colleagues in the NHS and this year’s theme of health worker safety is a vital one.
“Today I am also pleased to announce the 7 trusts receiving a share of £8.7 million to help eliminate paper prescriptions. This will not only help reduce potentially deadly medication errors but save our hardworking staff valuable time.”
Along with implementing and streamlining digital hospital prescribing, government has committed to strengthening the NHS workforce and train, new nurses. This will minimize workload pressures on staff. The number of applicants who have been placed on midwifery and nursing courses at English providers has increased with 22% since last year.
Alongside NHS England’s National Patient Safety Director Dr Aidan Fowler and the Minister for Patient Safety will be paying a visit to University Hospital Southampton to ask how they are protecting their patients and staff during the pandemic.
National Director of Patient Safety Dr Aidan Fowler said:
“World Patient Safety Day is an important opportunity to reflect on the vital work that goes on across the NHS to protect patients from harm, and to thank staff for their efforts to keep patients safe.
“Patient safety is of paramount importance and is something we are continuously looking at ways to improve, whether through new technology, such as the introduction of electronic prescribing, or by building a safety culture where all NHS staff feel supported and safe to speak up.”
Article source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-funding-to-help-hospitals-introduce-digital-prescribing
Tracy is an Editor and Marketing Director who helps healthcare professionals and technology companies work together to digitise the UK healthcare system. After many years of helping award winning technology companies bring their innovations to the UK market she launched the Health Tech Digital resource platform which keeps healthcare professionals up to date with industry news and technology solutions for their establishments. Tracy is also the Marketing Director of Reborn Marketing Ltd and has worked with both private and public sectors focusing on technology in the UK for the past 7 years. If you have news you would like to share or would like to get in touch regarding your healthcare technology solution you can reach Tracy at tracy.williams@healthtechdigital.com.
