Servelec, a provider of digital care software, has announced that it has signed a contract to provide Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust and Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust with its Rio EPR system. The system will enable greater interoperability throughout both organisations, enhance the flow of information securely, and create a single view of the patient to improve care.
Currently, the neighbouring Trusts both provide mental health care as separate organisations. However, plans to merge the two over the coming months have been in progress for some time, which will give mental health, care for those with learning disabilities and children’s services across the Black Country a significant boost.
More choice and improved access to specialist services are just two of the benefits of the merger, which is planned to take place in early 2020, so finding an EPR that could seamlessly flow between both Trusts was crucial.
The decision to implement Rio was based on that fact that the existing systems within both Trusts, no longer fitted the vision moving forward, as Mark Syrett, EPR Programme Director, explains: “We needed a system that would bring our patient records together across both organisations – a system that was responsive to our needs, a recognised and highly regarded EPR particularly for mental health.”
He adds: “Servelec has clearly listened to its users to develop a robust EPR that is very well established in the mental healthcare community.
“The benefit of Rio is the single patient record, where all details are in one place. The system is configurable and intuitive to use. Many other NHS organisations across the midlands use Rio, so we anticipate this will significantly help with future interoperability across the geography.”
Neil Laycock, managing director of healthcare at Servelec says: “By integrating data from other healthcare, social care and public sector systems, the trusts are aiming to achieve a clear, holistic view of each patient’s health to further enhance and improve the care they provide.”
Both Trusts are due to go live with Rio at the end of the year.
Rio supports the vision of every patient having one, fully integrated, Electronic Health Record (EHR) to enable the very best and most efficient healthcare. The software provides one centralised electronic record for each patient that can be used across care settings.
A leading electronic patient record system for secondary care, Rio operates across mental health, child health and community care settings. It manages both administrative and clinical processes and can be tailored to an organisation’s specific needs. Rio provides best practice assessments, workflows and care pathways for all settings.
Dudley and Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust provides a wide range of integrated mental health services to children, adults and older people. It employs around 1,000 staff and provides care for more than 20,000 people each year, across 23 community sites and three acute hospitals.
Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is a major provider of mental health, learning disability and community healthcare services for people of all ages in the Black Country. There are over 2,000 staff working at the Trust, carrying out a wide range of roles, working together to provide integrated care and support.