Staff at the National Spinal Injuries Centre (NSIC) have welcomed the go-live of an IMS MAXIMS solution which has revolutionised its patient records system. The MAXIMS Spinal System is specifically designed to improve patient care in this highly specialised area of work by allowing records to be instantaneously updated and care plans to be made, helping to promote the consistent documentation of medical records. It also improves the sharing of information between healthcare staff - such as doctors and therapists - who may work on different shifts and find it hard to meet.
The NSIC, based at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and part of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, cares for patients from across the UK and abroad. Top quality patient records are vital as patients are often in need of specifically tailored, carefully balanced, treatment and rehabilitation programmes by teams from many disciplines. These can include consultants, occupational therapists, sports injury specialists, language and speech therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists and counsellors. The 127 bed unit, which has seven wards, caters for children and adults with spinal cord injury. It treats around 900 inpatients a year. Around a quarter have suffered spinal damage in road accidents, a similar number have had falls, or suffered sports injuries, or been the victims of violence. Many remain inpatients for weeks, even months, before they can return home. For some it will be the start of a lifelong relationship with the unit.
Before the phased implementation of MAXIMS Spinal began, in November, the unit largely relied on paper records and a hospital PAS. The 270 staff now have a fully-electronic system for viewing and updating most records. Mobile computers mean they can even do this at the bedside.
Claire Guy, NSIC rehabilitation programme lead, who oversaw the introduction of the system, said: "It's a real advance because it promotes patient-centred care and interdisciplinary working. It also saves time for staff. For example if a part-time speech or language therapist needs to know what was agreed at a meeting about a particular patient, they can now easily access this through the system and provide the correct treatment."
Training in the new system, which was run by project manager Adnan Zahid, went smoothly and staff have adapted quickly to the electronic system. They have welcomed its wide range of uses including for care and therapies planning, assessment and evaluation, making clinical notes and vital signs recording. In future the unit hopes to take advantage of other functions, such as the capacity to call up images from the PACS system.
Shane Tickell, IMS MAXIMS CEO, said: "The NSIC does incredible work for patients and is a vitally important part of the NHS. Our new solution is helping staff to carry out their roles effectively as they now have all relevant information about a patient in a single view. There are no problems with lost or mislaid files, with unreadable handwriting, or with information - like times and dates - being missed from the record. Authorised staff can also make changes and updates on the spot. All this adds up to better and safer patient care."
"One of the things that most impressed me about this project was the excellent working relationship that developed between our team and the staff at the unit. There was a real sense of dedication all round, and I believe we have delivered a solution that is exactly geared to the way that staff in the unit work and which will continue to adapt to their needs for many years to come."
About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS specialises in developing clinical and administrative software solutions and currently supports more than 100 organisations and 10,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products. To find out more about IMS MAXIMS and its products visit www.imsmaxims.com.