Humber Health Partnership, comprised of Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust, has updated on a number of key digital programmes and priorities, noting the digitisation of mental capacity assessments, the use of VR in specialist rehabilitation, medication safety, and EPR progress.
Digital Mental Capacity Act assessments, best interest decision records, and deprivation of liberty safeguards forms have been developed and introduced, according to the group, replacing paper-based processes. These were piloted on selected wards to test usability and check they met with legal requirements prior to wider roll out, which took place in November 2025. Early audit evidence has since shown a “clear increase” in completed mental capacity and best interest records, the group reports, and improvements in clarity and completeness have made it easier for staff to demonstrate the lawfulness and patient-centred nature of decisions. For patients, the new approach ensures more timely reviews of restrictions, reducing unnecessary limitations on liberty. “Local authority partners reported fewer follow up queries, indicating better quality information and more efficient DoLS processes,” it continues.
Humber Health also reports on the use of VR in the complex rehabilitation ward at Castle Hill Hospital, which offers specialist rehabilitation for patients who have suffered a brain or physical injury. First introduced in 2023, the VR equipment offers a multi-directional treadmill system aiming to engage patients in physical exercise through fun experiences that simulate real-life challenges. Scenarios cover walking through a busy street, shopping at a supermarket, playing sports, and hiking up a mountain, it shares.
In medication safety, Humber Health outlines its work to ensure adult patients are weighed promptly so medicines can be prescribed and administered safely. Digital links between systems have been improved to allow for recorded weights to flow into electronic medication charts, it explains, which it associates with reduced manual entry and reduced risk of error. “This helped staff record weights more reliably at the point of care,” it notes. “2025/26 performance improved, with around nine in ten adult inpatients having a weight recorded during their admission.” Timely recording of patient weights on ePMA has improved significantly and sustained since, the group goes on, with performance continuing to be monitored as part of the wider patient safety and digital medicines programme.
Elsewhere, an update on the delivery of a group-wide EPR indicates that phase 1 is scheduled for completion in April 2027, with hopes to begin realising benefits in June 2027, and phase 2 to be completed by June 2028.
The group also highlights that electronic nursing documentation has been rolled out at NLaG across emergency departments electronic patient management system, including falls risk assessments and post-fall care plans. In line with the national audit RCEM mental health (self harm), nursing safety checklists have also been added to the emergency departments electronic patient management system at NLaG, with the aim of supporting retrospective evidence on continuous patient monitoring for patients at heightened risk of further self harm.
Wider trend: Digital transformation in the Humber and Yorkshire region
Humber and North Yorkshire Collaboration of Acute Providers’ annual report for 2025/2 has shared achievements across imaging, diagnostics and order comms, with discussion on next steps and the future of acute care in the region. Focuses for 2025/26 included reducing unwarranted variation and improving timely imaging and reporting through the development of standardised pathways, the collaboration outlines. Procurement has been completed for an order comms solution to support GPs to request imaging tests electronically, along with a shared history and reporting extension to the radiology information system to enable clinicians to view patient imaging completed elsewhere in the network.
Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust has received funding from NHS England to lead on the roll-out of functionality allowing patients to manage their appointments and visits directly from the NHS App. The trust’s implementation will be shared with 11 NHS trusts using SystmOne across the country. Once live, information from the trust’s EPR will enable patients to view previous and upcoming appointments, receive appointment notifications and documents, and book, cancel, or amend their appointment details, in the NHS App. It also allows patients to fill in questionnaires to update their records, helping trusts to stay informed.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has begun sharing four new data sources with the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record, covering appointments, encounters, location, and referral requests. The addition of these four items means that Leeds Teaching is now sharing eight of the ten resources listed on its minimum viable data set, with diagnostic reports and medications to be added. Sharing the news, Interweave highlighted the benefits of the expanded data for clinicians in accessing timely patient data, in supporting informed decision making, and in improving continuity of care. “The increased data sharing strengthens the Yorkshire & Humber Care Record and contributes to more joined-up care for patients across the region, helping professionals to deliver better outcomes through improved information access,” Interweave adds.
