We caught up with Simon McNair, head of business development at Restore Information Management, who shared insights from his work helping NHS organisations to tackle challenges around managing legacy records and making the transition to digital. “We particularly look to offer support in using technology to extract better value from the data held by NHS organisations, which can be critical to clinical decision-making,” he explained. “Also, with the shift to prevention, through access to the data, particularly as it’s being centralised around the Single Patient Record and national document repositories.”

Reflecting on the change happening within the healthcare sector at the moment, Simon talked about the “clear direction” set out within the 10-Year Plan from analogue to digital, structural changes being made to how funding is distributed, and the more complex landscape for ICBs in terms of delivering care to patients. Recent progress on digitisation doesn’t detract from the fact that some of the processes involving paper records that it is replacing have been in place for decades, he considered, “and I think the challenge is in that transition from a paper way of working to a digital way of working, benefitting from the technology and platforms now available offering better communication, better visibility, and better ways for patients to manage their care”.

For ICBs, the key is “understanding what you have, minimising your holding in terms of records and data in line with retention programmes, and then enabling clinicians to access the information they need efficiently to improve patient care,” Simon told us. “It’s also about a level of system or centralised support, for example going out to practices to support with information management, compliance, and so on.” There has been significant investment at national and regional level in technology that can help NHS organisations particularly in the primary care space to operate more efficiently, he continued, “a good example would be the National Document Repository, which has created a central database for GP and primary care records that the whole network can access”.

Effective ICB estates strategy

Central considerations for ICBs looking to develop estates strategies include consistent funding, gaining an understanding of real estate footprint and the costs associated with current records management practices, and exploring how digitisation could reduce that burden. “The byproduct of that is reducing operating costs,” said Simon, “or reusing and repurposing real estate in a more efficient way”. Progress on frontline digitisation, ensuring every organisation has an EPR, and the subsequent availability of data to improve patient outcomes has meant not only less paper records, but also more compliance, and better access to data when it’s needed, in the format it is needed, for clinicians.

“For NHS organisations that may have offsite warehouses and different medical records stores, coming out of those sites offers a reduction in ongoing operational cost, because you’re no longer paying the rent, the rates, etc.,” Simon considered. “We know the NHS is operating under huge space constraints, so if there’s a chance to repurpose the records room in a GP surgery into another consulting room, for example, there’s benefit there, which is multiplied up again if you look at that at a large trust.”

Future-proofing information strategies and moving toward a hybrid model

It’s becoming increasingly important to future-proof information strategies to make room for emerging technologies like AI, Simon noted, and the opportunities they may offer to increase productivity and patient choice. “It’s about using technology in a way that allows for more effective information management,” he said, “particularly where that information is hybrid – how do you apply automated retention processes, how do you manage requests to access that information, and how can you surface what you need quickly and easily?” Used properly, technologies such as AI can help improve retention practices and compliance, reduce administrative burden, free-up both clinical and operational time, and extract greater value from data, he added.

“Whether records and information are in paper or digital format, the key piece is having a really effective policy in place that is deployed consistently across the organisation,” Simon told us. “At a foundation level, it’s about having a robust approach to managing information, information governance, and programmes around compliance.” He suggested designating information asset owners, and ensuring clear cybersecurity protocols are in place, whether information is being managed or held within the NHS or with the involvement of third parties.

Best practices and key considerations

Moving on to think about what ICBs should consider when shaping their information strategies, Simon highlighted that there remains “quite a bit of work to be done” on addressing core foundations of how physical and digital records are managed. “In a significant number of projects we’ve done across both primary and secondary care involving large-scale uplifts of records, digitisation on demand based on patient need or patient appointment, as opposed to trying to just digitise everything, has worked more effectively,” he shared. “Having a clear plan and a roadmap, with funding in place, has led to greater success, in our experience, and having a single system to manage the patient record, along with a single view of the patient record, is a good starting point.”

For Restore Information Management, it’s about getting organisations to a point where they have minimised their records holding, are digitising based on an intelligent view of what’s required by clinicians, and making sure that’s accessible on platforms and systems in use across the NHS, Simon explained. “Our role, and where that’s worked well, is where those programmes are funded and very joined-up, because it’s part of a much bigger transformation programme – the part that we do often enables some of the effective investments in systems and a single view on the patient record, and those major EPR investments that the NHS has made.”

Talking about the positive direction set out by the 10-Year Plan, Simon considered how Restore Information Management is well positioned to offer at-scale, secure, and experienced guidance. “We can bring our expertise to focus on a task that the NHS essentially doesn’t have the bandwidth or the resources to do itself,” he said. “When it comes to the aims of the 10-Year Plan, and particularly moving from analogue to digital and getting a single view of the patient record, we can help tackle what is still an enormous challenge, despite sizeable process being made over the last three years or so.”

These challenges are already being addressed in practice. A recent programme delivered with NHS Birmingham & Solihull Integrated Care Board shows how a system wide approach to information management can support the transition from paper to digital at scale. By securely digitising over one million patient records across 160 GP practices, the ICB was able to improve access to information, strengthen governance, and support more joined up care across the system.