Bradford implements RiO through ASCC

Bradford District Care Trust has implemented the RiO electronic care record system to support staff delivering mental health services.

The mental health and learning disabilities trust made use of the Additional Supply Capability and Capacity (ASCC) framework contract to accelerate the procurement process.

Bradford began the procurement in December 2008, after deciding it could not afford to wait any longer for a mental health system from local service provider CSC.

Following the implementation, some 1,200 staff from the trust, which provides services across Bradford, Airedale and Craven, have access to care records and a single source of clinical information.

As well as improving patient care, Bradford believes RiO will help it achieve foundation trust status.

RiO is caimed to provide an integrated approach to mental health care, delivering tools that enable common assessments and care planning tools. According to CSE Healthcare Systems, RiO provides specialist assessments and progress notes and fully supports the Mental Health Act 2007.

The software is said to meet both clinical and corporate governance reporting requirements, including support for the Mental Health Minimum Dataset (MHMDS).

E-Health Insider understands the trust has installed version 5.1 of the RiO system, which contains NHS spine capability, though the system at Bradford has yet to be connected to the NHS spine.

Implementations of version 5.1 of RiO has been on hold in London since BT ran into problems with upgrading primary care trusts to the spine-connected version of the software.

The ASCC framework contract, covering suppliers and services in a range of categories, was put in place by NHS Connecting for Health in 2008. CfH first set out plans for the ASCC framework contract in late 2006.

By use of the contract, and partnership with CSE, Bradford has implemented the new system in less than five months.

Tony Middleton, head of information at the trust, said: "After carrying out a rigorous procurement exercise through ASCC we were confident that RiO was the right choice for us.

He said the system has proved flexible and intuitive to use. “RiO has enabled us to meet all of our current information needs and has provided the trust with a robust platform to move towards foundation trust status.”

CSE says Bradford is the sixth NHS mental health trust to choose RiO outside the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

Under NPfIT, RiO has been bought to be installed by BT at 25 trusts in the south of England together with community and mental health trusts in London.