Electronic Patient Records

Patient records are kept about:

• A&E attendances;
• Outpatient activity (including referrals, appointments and cancellations);
• Inpatient activity including waiting lists, admissions, ward transfers and discharges;
• Tracking of Medical Records case notes;
• Clinical coding of activity to identify diagnosis and procedures undertaken;
• Requests for tests and investigations (e.g. bloods, x-rays); and
• Results of tests and investigations.

PatientCentre also keeps records about waiting list activity to ensure that the Trust operates within current NHS guidelines and that patients are treated in a timely and fair manner.

PatientCentre interfaces to Pathology, Radiology and Maternity systems to maintain complete patient records.

Data is extracted from the system for statutory reporting to the Department Of Health and revenue purposes for the PCT’s, to ensure payment for the care that we provide to patients.

PatientCentre is used for the co-ordination of planned admissions and expected discharges and the associated management of beds on each ward.

The EPR Team

The EPR Team is responsible for maintaining the EPR database, to ensure that clinic templates, consultant lists and other master files are up to date.

Access to PatientCentre is strictly password controlled to maintain patient confidentiality at all times. The EPR Team manages this process by ensuring that all staff receive the appropriate training before being able to access the system.

As the system ‘experts’, the EPR team provides first line support to all Trust staff including ‘talk through’ guidance on how to use particular functions of the system, to trouble shooting problems and system design.