An annual safeguarding report from East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust has highlighted the role of digital in adult and children’s safeguarding, including the full digitalisation of s42 and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, and the successful launch of a maternity EPR.
A bespoke digital risk assessment tool has been developed and deployed by the trust’s safeguarding team in collaboration with a national working group and NHS England safeguarding lead, in unscheduled care settings. According to ENHT, the tool has been audited and returned “excellent” compliance rates along with an increase in recognition of child exploitation, and a 70 percent increase in referrals from 2022. Following its implementation in 14 other trusts to date, and pending evaluation, NHS England is reportedly committed to its roll-out across GPs, pharmacies, and health partners to support mandatory reporting for child sexual abuse.
Digital is also noted in the paediatric liaison service, where the bulk upload system is helping to support timely sharing of key safeguarding information, and an electronic referral form has been embedded within the Nervecentre patient record. “A daily report is generated by the paediatric liaison service, allowing staff to submit information sharing forms directly from patient records. This development has improved access, increased staff engagement in information sharing, and enhanced the team’s ability to risk assess and action concerns promptly,” the trust says. “As a result, partner agencies receive timely, accurate, and detailed information,” it continues, on attendances, clinical findings, outcomes, and additional support.
A learning disabilities alert function has been developed within the EPR, accessible through both Nervecentre and Lorenzo, with around 4,000 individuals identified with an alert flag. These alerts from Nervecentre are compiled into a daily report emailed to nurses and matrons to ensure awareness of patients in hospital.
The trust shares that safeguarding performance is currently monitored through a “comprehensive” dashboard to support work plans and assurance reporting, with data on safeguarding team activity hosted by the trust’s business analytics hub. A maternity EPR has also successfully been launched, which it states has been supported through the adaptation of safeguarding pathways and processes.
Digital priorities for 2025/26 are to create an effective method for raising safeguarding and information sharing requests, improve datasets and oversight, digitise internal adult safeguarding referral and case management mechanisms through the trust’s ENHance software, and digitise the internal process for DoLS applications. The safeguarding team will be collaborating with the ORBIS implementation team to “ensure software at launch is fit for safeguarding purposes”. Digital solutions will also be reviewed to improve recording and oversight of staff safeguarding supervision, and enhance access to training.
Wider trend: digital tools in health and care
£300 million of new capital investment has been outlined by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget for NHS tech and digital tools, with aims to improve productivity by automating administrative tasks and providing “swifter access” to patient information. The announcement comes alongside news of planned investment in 250 neighbourhood health centres, with a collaboration between the public and private sectors for construction that will see the repurposing of current estate as well as spending on new buildings.
North East and North Cumbria ICB has awarded a contract with a total value of up to £2.4 million to Accurx for the provision of digital tools to support digital pathways in line with modernising general practice requirements. The contract, covering an initial period of six months and a value of £809,622 excluding VAT, is for an online consultation, video consultation, appointment booking, and text messaging tool.
University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust has shared an update on first-year outcomes from its in-house developed digital discharge tool, designed to reduce the occurrence of delayed discharges and improve joined-up care. The High Risk of Delayed Transfer of Care tool was first launched in December 2024, in partnership with local NHS providers, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent ICB, the North Staffordshire GP Federation, and Keele University. On launch, it was reportedly in use at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, being trialled in areas including the emergency department and older adults wards. Since then, the tool has helped to reduce average length of stay by 1.2 days, using anonymised real-time information from GPs, social care, and hospital records to identify patients at risk of longer stays.
