Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has published its annual report, highlighting the impact of digital investments such as digital clinic notes and ED documentation on patient experience and clinical care.
The trust shares that investments made in digital technologies in 2024/25 have supported it in sending 64,000 letters per month digitally to patients and partners, delivering up to 25 percent of its total appointments virtually, creating 910,000 digital healthcare documents as part of its paper to digital programme, and scanning 97 million pages of clinical paper notes. Over 50,000 Careflow Connect digital handovers per month are carried out, it continues, and staff have also been supported in working from home, with 427 members of staff working from home on a single day during 2024.
Clinical documentation in the emergency department went live in July 2024, followed by electronic prescribing in October 2024. A digital maternity solution, Badgernet Maternity, was introduced to support a fully integrated and digitally accessible digital record for expectant mothers. The roll-out of inpatient medical notes was also completed in February 2025, with further “significant inroads” made into theatre and surgery digital noting, and plans to fully digitise nursing documentation over the coming year.
Progress in other areas includes on outpatient clinic notes, with the trust reporting that all clinic history sheets have been digitised with the exception of “some specialist clinics”; enabling access to the Yorkshire and Humber Shared Care Record; and an ongoing programme of work to replace the current Pharmacy Stock Control system with a single medication digital record for outpatients and stock in the organisation.
Each of these implementations was accompanied by engagement and support, according to the trust, with delivery groups set up to conduct needs analysis and carry out appropriate training, and other modes of support ranging from videos to competency tests, and floor walking to drop-in sessions. Staff have been enabled to use their own mobile and home technology securely, it adds, whilst plans for the coming year include digital inclusion sessions and the introduction of tech such as speech recognition, AI, and ambient voice to help minimise admin time and increase staff time to care.
Wider trend: Digital trusts
Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is piloting the digital wound app, Minuteful for Wound by Healthy.io, with an aim to improve care for local people across the region and follow best practice outlined in the national wound care strategy programme. The app was introduced to Neston Care Community Team, Neston Dressing Clinic, Central Dressing Clinic and the Tissue Viability Service as part of a 12-month pilot, aiming to test the capabilities of the app in clinic and community settings, including in the homes of patients.
Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust are taking part in a wider NHS study, trialling the use of AI scanners to help reduce hospital readmissions for people with heart failure, also allowing patients to manage their condition at home. Developed by the medical technology manufacturer, Heartfelt Technologies, the scanner is an at-home device that takes “thousands of detailed images” of patients as they get in and out of bed.
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust published its latest digital strategy in July, placing a focus on smart buildings, EPR development, evaluating its current digital maturity, understanding areas to invest in and AI integration. “The future state of the trust is set to improve the digital capabilities immensely following the roll out of the Epic EPR,” UHP notes. Since its last digital strategy was published in 2021, the trust outlines successes including the One Devon EPR programme, “major” software implementations in the ED and maternity departments, a move to Microsoft Office 365, network upgrades, and a renewed drive toward cyber security.
A recent board meeting has outlined the role, remit, purpose, and agenda of a new Joint Infrastructure Committee launched by The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Following approval from both trust boards, terms of reference have now been submitted to the committee for formal endorsement. Its purpose is to oversee the development of digital, estate, and sustainability plans including regenerative opportunities with partners to improve and rationalise the trust’s estate, save money, or improve efficiency.
