We recently sent out a questionnaire to around 30 users asking how our record helps them and how it is making a difference to their working lives and helping patients:
Dorset HealthCare
A CHMN (neurology) staff member says “I don’t have to access ICE or call up the hospitals or GP surgeries for information. It allows me to see who else is involved with the patient and therefore I can liaise with other professionals on the patient’s behalf.”
A Physiotherapist writes: “It provides quick access to find out if patient is still in acute hospital and which ward they are on. Quick access also to x-rays and blood results.
“It provides access to letters from consultant clinicians rather than waiting for them to be updated to SystmOne by GP surgeries. Easier access to orthopaedic letters means we can progress their treatment rather than a delay in waiting for their updates. Viewing clinic letters with essential info from the patient’s consultant allows us to make safer decisions about their management.”
And a community oncology matron says: “It enables me to have access to forthcoming appointments, allowing me to coordinate care appropriately. It saves clinical time and enables me to be more efficient.”
Dorset Council
A community health care worker says: “Patients don’t have to report their story several times as being bale to see community services notes mans I can pick up, almost in real time, what is happening. Often the contact details are better in DCR than our individual records. The recent addition of discharge letters from hospital has been hugely helpful as the patient might have lost their letter and be unsure what investigations they had. We can check..”
And a staff member working in rehabilitation uses the DCR to check on how patients are doing in care homes: “If there are no case notes and no care packages on the person’s record I use the DCR to check… this cuts down time spent calling homes to check on individuals.”
University Hospitals Dorset
Here’s a medicines management specialist writing about the DCR: “I have quicker access to medication history and am more likely to receive accurate prescribing with fewer errors. There is no need for an ID card and its easy to access on all PC terminals.”
We’ve found that acute hospital pharmacies are increasingly heavy users of our record. Here are a couple of comments from different pharmacists at UHD on why they’re finding it so useful:
“DCR can be used as one of the useful sources when taking drug history medical records (dhx). It helps accessing past medical history and allergies too.”
“The DCR is able to provide prompt medicines reconciliation which in turn ensures accurate prescribing of appropriate medicines – therefore there is a reduced risk of errors in prescribing.”
Yeovil District Hospital
A first lymph care/osteoporosis nurse writes:
“We don’t need to keep contacting patients to see what is happening because we can determine this from the DCR. Or when we do, we have gathered the most up to date information we can to make the contact more efficient and pertinent.”
“We can check what medication and dose is prescribed. I can check blood results and x-ray results and whether any referral for a condition/result has been made.”
“It has been very helpful to see recent patient correspondence where this has been available and it is very useful to see the rehab team notes for mobility and other assessments. It is useful to to see what hospital appointments have happened to help informed what is happening with patients… Recent bone reports are now appearing on DCR which is very helpful.”
Dorset County Hospital
A respiratory consultant on DCR access via their Digital Patient Record: “The DCR looks great – better than before! It has solved another longstanding issue that we had. The Primary care view “Encounters” has my entries I make in System 1.
And a re-reg pharmacist writes: “It allows me to have a idea of a patient’s drug history before using them as a second source. It allows me to take their drug history in a streamline manner.”
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP)
A BCP social worker says the DCR is saving him time: “I am able to immediately look up instead of relying on lengthy phone calls/ detective work on: if someone is in hospital, details of appointments, diagnosis, professionals they were last seen by, what medication they are on..”
And finally, here’s a reablement officer on why the DCR works: “Being able to complete paperwork before going out on visits see discharge summaries. Being able to see when they’ve gone to hospital.”
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