Nottingham buys Medway with digital pens

Midwives at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust are to be given digital pens and mobile access to System C’s Medway Maternity system.

The trust has just awarded System C a contract for the system after a seven month procurement process.

It will be used by 370 midwives, 60 doctors and 50 administration staff across two sites - Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen’s Medical Centre – where 10,000 babies are delivered each year.

About 120 of the midwives will be using Destiny digital pens to collect assessment and booking information and enter it directly into the Medway system.

Obstetrics service lead Lucy Kean told eHealth Insider: “We are very excited about this new system... we are entering an age where accurate and user friendly electronic records are at the heart of what we do.”

Kean said the procurement process had involved every member of staff voting on which system they liked best.

“All staff were invited to the system demonstrations and they scored them. Then we added up the scores – they would hate me if I brought in a system they didn’t like!”

System C staff have just started working with hospital staff to configure the system to how they want it.

The aim is to have the first phase of the system live next month, with a complete switch over set for late September. Medway Maternity will also be interfaced with the trust’s McKesson TotalCare patient administration system and results reporting software.

Information from the Medway system will also be fed into other downstream systems, including neonatal, foetal medicine and GP systems.

Chief executive of System C, Ian Denley, said the contract was a big win for the company.

“Nottingham University Hospitals is one of the country’s foremost acute providers. We are delighted to have won this maternity contract in a seven month competitive procurement, and to have done so against such stiff competition.”

McKesson recently completed the purchase of System C, with a view to bring its Medway suite of products to its existing client base.