Camden and Islington NHS improves mental health care with Carenotes electronic patient record system

Carenotes system part of 'digital revolution' in hospital's mental health services

Camden and Islington NHS Trust has deployed the Carenotes Electronic Patient Record system (EPR) from Advanced Health & Care in an effort to improve patient care for in its mental health services.

The EPR solution went live earlier this month and forms part of Camden and Islington NHS Trust's so-called digital revolution, which aims to improve treatments at the St Pancras Hospital in central London.

This improvement to digital services at Camden and Islington NHS Trust contrasts with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which this week has been put into special measures by health regulator Monitor. This is in part due to its new online patient-record system, which has been fraught with problems.

By using the new EPR system, Camden and Islington staff can view patient records from mobile devices, enabling doctors and nurses to access information from anywhere in the hospital and make quicker, more informed and accurate clinical decisions.

The Carenotes system will also facilitate more joined-up working in Camden and Islington NHS, which will ultimately lead to better treatment for visitors to the Trust's mental health services.

"Our ambition is to lead a digital revolution to provide better overall patient care to thousands of people with mental health conditions. By working in partnership with Advanced to meet tight project timescales, we now move this vision closer to reality," said Wendy Wallace, chief executive of Camden and Islington NHS Trust.

Wallace said she is particularly impressed by how hospital staff have taken to using digital patient records. Indeed, there are 165 "Carenotes champions" within the Trust who are helping doctors and nurses learn how to use the EPR system.

"Our successful 'go live' is not only a great achievement for the technical teams but also for all our staff who have committed to training in the new Carenotes system," she said.

"I have been particularly impressed by the network of highly enthusiastic 'champions' who have stepped forward to support their colleagues and the Trust. User confidence is one of the keys to a successful transition and we are clearly demonstrating this now," Wallace added.

David Jackland, associate director of ICT at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, described the delivery of the project as a "remarkable achievement" which has rewarded "everyone's considerable efforts".

"Camden and Islington looks forward to continuing to work together to deploy the Carenotes mobile product with our partners from Advanced, so that our clinical staff will be able to view patient records from smart devices," he said.

Camden and Islington is not the only NHS Trust using digital technology to provide better treatment. The Christie NHS Foundation Trust, the largest single-site cancer centre in Europe, has improved care by using Tableau business analytics software.