A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by Spectralink discovered that 61 per cent of nurses in the UK still use handwritten notes, charts or verbal communication to share patient details, notes on medication and instructions for discharge. - See more at: http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/could-the-nhs-benefit-by-going-paperless

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Could the NHS benefit by going paperless?
A Freedom of Information (FoI) request by Spectralink discovered that
61 per cent of nurses in the UK still use handwritten notes, charts or
verbal communication to share patient details, notes on medication
and instructions for discharge.

2. This news comes less than a month after the Jeremy Hunt, secretary of
state for health, announced plans to go paperless by 2018. If it shifted
from paper to digital records, the NHS could improve its efficiency and
accuracy – which would ultimately lead to a better level of patient care.
The FoI request also revealed that 34 per cent of staff regularly made
use of electronic records to capture and share some patient details.
However, these digital archives were not available on the ward floor
and could only be accessed from a desktop terminal. According to the
FoI request, only three per cent of staff used pagers to transmit patient
data.

3. More than 100 NHS Trusts responded to the FoI request. Of these,
none had any mechanism in place to record the amount of time
healthcare professionals spent checking and then replying to
messages each day.
In May this year, the Ponemon Institute released a study that found
clinicians wasted more than 45 minutes each day due to the use of
outdated communication technologies – noting the primary reason as
the inefficiency of pagers.

4. Simon Watson, director at Spectralink, said: "Nurses and other
healthcare professionals play a critical role in our everyday lives and
should spend the bulk of their time focused on delivering exceptional
patient care.
“However, we frequently see these highly-trained professionals
spending far too much time on administrative tasks and being forced to
use inefficient communication methods because they are not given the
tools to help them do their jobs more efficiently.”

5. In November this year, a panel was created to examine the relationship
between the NHS and modern technology. For example, the panel will
look at how technology can be used to support patient consent and
how people’s right to object is safely communicated and upheld.

6. The panel will oversee how issues surrounding patient confidentiality
are resolved and it is focused on the the better use of data and
information.
Storetec News/Blogs “
http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/could-the-nhs-benefit-by-going-pape
”. Could the NHS benefit by going paperless?. December 16, 2013.
Storetec.

7. The panel will oversee how issues surrounding patient confidentiality
are resolved and it is focused on the the better use of data and
information.
Storetec News/Blogs “
http://www.storetec.net/news-blog/could-the-nhs-benefit-by-going-pape
”. Could the NHS benefit by going paperless?. December 16, 2013.
Storetec.