Electronic Patient Record
EPR stands for Electronic Patient Record. The EPR is a digital system to manage clinical information, making it easily available for use by health and care staff.
The EPR programme is a flagship project for our three acute hospitals in Norfolk and Waveney and will enable organisation-wide transformation of how we work and deliver care. The digital patient record solution is part of a national ambition the government has to revolutionise how information is stored to offer better joined-up care for patients. It is also a critical part of the Joint Acute Clinical Strategy for the Norfolk and Waveney Acute Hospital Collaborative.
At the moment, many parts of our acute hospitals in Norfolk and Waveney are reliant on paper-based patient notes which can take time for staff to find and complete. The EPR will switch the hospitals from using paper to digital notes which are held in one system for many of our clinical and operational services. Some services will continue to use specialist systems which will link into the EPR for information sharing.
The EPR gives health and care staff instant and secure access to the information they need to provide better joined-up care and improved experiences for patients in our acute hospitals.
The EPR:
- Will provide real time information available when it is needed, where it is needed.
- Will enable faster, more personalised care by enabling quicker access to patient information.
- Can help to ensure that patients are seen in the right place by the right person by providing accurate information about their needs.
- Will support collaborative working across multiple patient pathways by providing a single source for patient information.
- Simplifies the process for recording up to date information and supports providing more joined up care for staff and patients.
- Can help our acute hospitals and overall health system improve care quality, outcomes and patient experience.
- Will reduce the chance of human error by reducing the need for paper records and sharing information between health and care professionals.
The programme aims to have our EPR up and running at all three acute hospitals by 2026.
For more information about the EPR please visit the dedicated website www.nwepr.co.uk.
