Patient and clinician experience
get the benefit of patient and clinician experiences of how computers are helping the NHS to improve health care.
Transcript
(Mark Webster)
"Every day in the NHS, doctors, nurses and other health staff share patients' information, test results and x-rays so they can provide the best care. However, much of this is still done in the traditional way with paper and film.
Hello, I'm Mark Webster. In the next few minutes, I'm going to show you how computers are helping the NHS to improve health care over the coming years."
(Mark Webster)
"Alexander Baker has spent much of his life in and out of hospital. Today, he's at the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield where he gets treated for Spina Bifida. But he also attends a second hospital in the city for an eye condition.
He feels he'll benefit from the new technology being introduced into the NHS."
(Alexander Baker)
"Well I had to go to the clinics for x-rays to keep a check on the kidneys and the bladder, which was the normal routine. But then after a time, I'd go to the clinic and find that they didn't have the x-rays or the notes there. And nobody had a reasonable explanation as to what had happened to them. So that meant going back for another appointment to have more x-rays and more visits to the clinic. I am sure people would feel a lot better if all the information was there at the right time."
(Mark Webster)
"Picture Archiving and Communications Systems - PACS - are already being put into some hospitals. They enable the NHS to store x-rays on computer instead of film, bringing an end to lost x-rays and repeat appointments."
(Mark Webster)
"Here at Mayday University Hospital in South London, PACS is making a huge difference. Dr Robin Evans is a Consultant Radiologist who uses it every day.
Dr Evans, how is it helping you?"
(Dr Robin Evans)
"Well, the main benefit is that the images are now digital and therefore it's always available on the hospital network. And so, if I need to look at an image, I can always find it there. If I need to compare it to the previous images, they are always there. That was simply not the case when we previously stored images on x-ray film, because they would go missing.
An additional benefit is that I am able to manipulate the images, so I am able to make them lighter, darker, expand them, take measurements from the images."
(Mark Webster)
"What are the benefits for the patients?"
(Dr Robin Evans)
"Patients also benefit from the speed of decision-making. The images can be viewed in different parts of the hospital - or indeed, in the future, in different parts of the country - by experts."
(Mark Webster)
"So PACS systems are already benefiting patients around the country. A new NHS Care Records Service will also improve patient care. It will ensure that doctors' notes and other health information is available when needed for your care. It will do this by linking computers across the NHS
This means that those treating you should have very quick access by computer to information about you like your current conditions and medications, your previous medical history, important test results, and of course x-rays and scans. Over time, this will enable the NHS to give you faster, safer, more accurate, efficient and co-ordinated health care.
We know from talking to patients and staff that the NHS Care Records Service will bring about some very positive changes."
(Mark Webster)
"When severe flood swept through the Cornish seaside town of Boscastle, several people were washed away by the torrents of water.
74 year old Geoffrey Bayfield was one of them.
He was taken to his local hospital - but doctors and nurses didn't have access to important information about him and following his ordeal, it was hard for him to remember all the information he needed to give staff...
This had a profound effect on him."
(Geoffrey Bayfield)
"In shock, in pain, definitely confused... if there had been the computer we have been talking about, that could have picked up on all the peripherals that went with a dicky heart. But it didn't, they didn't and I'm now in the situation that I am now with a damaged heart valve."
(Mark Webster)
"Over time, the NHS Care Records Service will develop a summary of your care and your clinical history, which can be accessed by whoever is treating you, wherever you are in England. Your full record will still be held locally, where most of your care is delivered.
Over the next few years, the Summary Care Record will ensure that particularly important health information is accessible - such as allergies, details of your medication and any drugs to which you react badly."
(Mark Webster)
"Sreenath Reddy is an Accident & Emergency Consultant."
(Sreenath Reddy)
"Having access to patient's information is certainly going to help us save lives. As long as we know who the patient is, we will have all their basic information in hand which means we will be able to start their life saving treatments much earlier on."
(Mark Webster)
"London GP, Dr Brian Fisher, is already embracing technology. His patients have access to their own medical records using computers at his surgery. He's looking forward to the way the new NHS Care Records Service will enhance the care he is able to give."
(Dr Brian Fisher)
"At the moment it's really difficult, impossible for me to access hospital records, for instance, or know what's happened to a patient elsewhere. It takes a long time for the data to get to me. Whereas with this new system, safely and securely I will be able to find out what's happened to people on a need to know basis."
(Mark Webster)
"So we've looked at changes which will mean, over time, an end to lost records and will mean that your vital health information and results will be available when they're needed.
So when is all this happening?
Well, new computer systems are being introduced into the NHS gradually. And the NHS Care Records Service won't happen all at once.
Eventually you will also be able to see a summary of your record whenever you want, using a protected website called Healthspace.
The strongest possible safeguards have been put in place to make sure only authorised staff will have access to your records. There are strict controls on who can see your records and what they can see. A log will be kept of everyone looking at your record and you can ask to see it.
But if you have concerns, you will be able to put extra limits on who has access to your records.
Over time, the NHS Care Records Service will improve the care you receive and give you more control over your own health and care. This is an important step into a healthy future for you and the NHS."
