East Lancs invests in digital dictation

East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is investing in a digital dictation package from Softech Global to improve efficiency and reduce delays in sending letters to GPs.

The NOMAD package, which includes digital dictation, voice recognition and document management, will be rolled out across the entire trust - including its two main hospitals, Royal Blackburn and Burnley General.

Head of IM&T Salim Badat told eHealth Insider the trust has no way of identifying where delays occur in sending letters to GPs at the moment.

However, the digital dictation software should pinpoint how far information has progressed along the workflow.

“It saves time, it speeds things up, it makes it more secure," he said. "It enters information into a workflow, so you can monitor where the delays in the process are.”

The software would fully integrate with the trust’s iSoft Clinicom patient administration system, so demographic data can be drawn from the PAS into documents created using the software.

Badat said integration should make GP letters more accurate, as it would remove a certain amount of human error.

He said the Department of Health's quality, innovation, productivity and prevention agenda had played a part in encouraging the trust to invest in digital dictation.

The QIPP agenda is intended to focus NHS managers' attention on making efficiency savings without simply cutting staff or services.

Previously, he said, funding and other priorities had held up investment in digital dictation.

East Lancashire chose the Softech Global system over four other tenders after an “extensive assessment and procurement” process, because it offered additonal functionality, such as specified searches.

“So in addition to being able to search the core text of letters, searches can be done for clinical terms, clinical procedures and drug names.”

It has yet to be decided how the system will be phased in, although the trust's laboratories are a probably starting point.  

“You need to look at other trusts and see how long they take to do it. Some take a couple of years to get it fully implemented, but I’m really hoping we can do it faster," Badat said.

A full training programme will be undertaken to prepare staff for the implementation.

Managing director of Softech Global, Manoj Agrawal, said it was pleased to have been awarded such an “exciting” project.

“We will be working with ELHT to ensure the trust realises maximum efficiencies and improves patient care by providing a comprehensive view of patient activity across departments.”