The NHS Western Isles Health Board (NHS Western Isles) is responsible for providing healthcare to a population of approximately 26,720, spread over 280 towns and villages.
The Health Board employs over 1,000 staff, has three main hospitals and works in conjunction with mainland Health Boards and other organisations, including local authority and voluntary organisations, to provide a wide range of healthcare services in the region.
Challenges
For NHS Western Isles, the delivery of sustainable and safe healthcare is a top priority.
However, in a complex environment comprising multiple service providers and diverse clinical specialties, achieving this mission can be highly challenging especially across such a wide geographic area.
Top challenges:
- To find a more efficient and consistent way to access, update and communicate patient records, at any time and from anywhere.
- To supplement the Health Board’s existing patient record systems with a digital solution for community and allied health professional (AHP) use.
- To support NHS Western Isles’ e-Health Programme.
- To deliver better patient care through time savings.
Solutions
When the dietetics team deployed the Morse Electronic Patient Records (EPR) app from Cambric Systems in 2016, NHS Western Isles became the first Scottish Health Board to select the automated solution and the first to influence how it has grown and evolved over the years.
Today, the Morse app is used by a variety of multi-disciplinary teams and AHPs to gain easy, instant access to patient information at any time and from anywhere, using their mobile devices.
Meanwhile, clinicians can view their own caseloads as well as their colleagues’ to better plan their day or week.
Results
The evolving implementation has tangibly supported NHS Western Isles’ e-Health Programme. Major benefits include:
- Time savings
- Improved patient safety
- Improved quality of care
- Better data access
- Efficient caseload management
- Lone worker protection
- Perfect remote-working tool
Karen France Macleod, NHS Western Isles Nutrition, Dietetic and Catering Services Manager said:
“From day one, we have benefitted from the Morse app but particularly during COVID when people were working from home.
“It’s brilliant, it really is mobile and it’s totally changed the way we work – in a positive way.”
