Walsall Hospital - case note tracking system

Walsall Hospital NHS Trust

IMPROVING ACCCESS TO CASE NOTES

A brand new electronic system that keeps tabs on patient case notes is proving a huge success at the Manor.

Twelve months since the official launch of the case note tracking system, over 93,000 patient notes have now been tagged which will go a long way to reduce the number of patients who have to wait until their notes are found.

Brought in from the States, the Trust is the first in the country to introduce technology of this kind to cut the number of missing files which can lead to temporary notes being used and prevent the rescheduling of patient appointments.

Adapted for the NHS the £220,000 Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag facility has been used in libraries in America.

The traditional card method which relied heavily on hospital staff remembering to make a call to health records has now been replaced by the system which uses special pads and electronic tags, which are placed in the back of patient case notes.

The detection system notes the location of each record every time it is logged via the pad which contains a sensor and then updates the information on a central database.

Bundles of notes up to 12 inches high can be logged in or out at the same time and special credit card sized location tags have been produced to enable quick and easy entry of the destination to which files are being sent.

In addition, there is a hand-held device which is instrumental in finding case notes. For a huge area full of tagged case notes, the tracking device is run across them and will emit a sound when the notes are located.

This new tracking system for notes is great news for patients as it reduces the chance of case notes not being available and therefore reduces delays to and cancellations of appointments. There has been a significant improvement in the number of case notes available at the time they are required and a number of consultants have commented favourably on the improved system.

The RFID system was brought in following a successful six month pilot in Urology and Breast Surgery and already the Manor has become a reference site for other hospitals