Scribe ePCR rollout to South Central Ambulance Private Providers
South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
“The Scribe ePCR solution from Doc-works allows our third-party providers to generate digital records at the patient side and enables us to streamline the handover process with hospital emergency departments in an entirely paper free environment. The system allows us to review and audit clinical records as soon as they are created which proves invaluable in following up on incidents and analysing and measuring quality of patient care.”
Alan Weir, Clinical Governance Lead, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
Challenge
South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS) wanted to lead the way on delivering NHS England’s vision of a paperless healthcare service. As part of delivering on this commitment they required a cost-effective electronic patient record solution to ensure that every patient in the South Central region received the exact same high-quality care experience whether they were treated by a SCAS crew or from one of their private providers.
SCAS asked Doc-works to design an ePCR solution with an intuitive interface which accurately modelled the layout of the existing SCAS form and provided a paramedic with everything they needed when responding to a time critical incident. It was also part of the brief that the system required minimal, if any, training for private provider staff to be able to use.
Solution
The launch of Scribe (ePCR) meant that SCAS was the first ambulance trust in the country to ensure that all its approved private providers now operated an electronic patient record system which could securely hold patient data and share timely information with other healthcare providers.
The new ePCR system allowed private provider ambulance crews to provide a prompt transfer of patient care to hospitals and other health organisations, improve the security of patient records, create more legible records saving on paper and time, and increase data accuracy. In addition, the system meets all audit requirements needed for compliance and reporting to staff, managers, CQC and commissioners.
The rollout enabled all SCAS’ private provider partners, to keep up with increasing increasing call volumes and significantly improve the care and treatment received by patients in their region.
Outcomes
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Automatic form population
Crews only need to input key patient information once and it automatically populates into whatever forms are subsequently required. -
Automated referral forwarding
Any forms that need to be sent to other organisations – such as social services, falls referral or occupational therapy – are automatically transferred electronically as soon as they are completed on the Scribe tablet during the ambulance crew’s shift. -
Seamless hospital handover
Receiving units and hospitals can access patient records and live ECG outputs with a simple click on a screen. The hospital teams receive vital information more quickly and ambulance crews can be available sooner to respond to the next call. -
Flexible crew handling
Crew members can log their roles at the beginning of each shift. The system supports multiple crew members and roles per device, per shift, facilitating the recording of treatment administration. -
Paper and cost saving
The implementation of Scribe resulted in significant paper and cost savings with one private provider having 25 boxes of redundant paper forms. -
Reduced carbon footprint
The base Operations Managers no longer need to spend up to 16 hours on the road delivering paper versions of the patient records the ePCR system replaces.