North Tees NHS saves 25,000 clinical hours in last year with TrakCare

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has extended the rollout of the InterSystems TrakCare health information system to digitise streamline intensive care unit (ICU) admissions processes. 

The trust went live with the admissions and documentation functionality on 31 October 2023 and says it has saved more than 25,000 clinical hours over 12 months, which have been invested directly back into improving patient care.

Prior to using the system, ICU admissions involved completing a 45-page document for each patient, which often delayed access to patient information.

Amy Reed, ICU nurse and clinical educator at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS FT, said: “InterSystems TrakCare has revolutionised how we capture and share patient information.

“Patient plans are in one place with secure, simultaneous access by multiple users.

“Staff no longer search for paper notes and legibility has improved hugely, giving them more time for hands-on patient care.”

The TrakCare electronic patient record (EPR) provides the ICU care team with up-to-date patient records, minimising errors associated with manual data entry and ensuring that critical information is always readily accessible to the care team.

The system also includes improvements to real-time electronic observations and nursing task lists for monitoring critically ill patients.

TrakCare also has led to financial benefits, saving the trust approximately £35,229 last year in stationery costs and administrative time spent preparing paper packs.

The trust says that the time staff need to complete each ICU admission is reduced on average by 33%.

Colin Henderson, managing director, UK & Ireland at InterSystems, said: “It has been a privilege to work closely with North Tees and Hartlepool NHS FT on this critical ICU digitisation project.

“The enhancements made with TrakCare are driving efficiencies that allow healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care, which is critical for achieving better patient outcomes.”

In preparation for the go-live of the system, the digital team at the trust provided training for 300 ICU staff, including clerical, doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, covering 90% of the ICU workforce, as well as specialist organ donation nurses who were also trained to optimise data utilisation.

As the project progresses, North Tees and Hartlepool plans to extend similar digitisation efforts to other areas of healthcare delivery, including outpatients and stroke pathways.

Meanwhile, Digital Health and Care Wales announced in May 2024 that InterSystems TrakCare Lab Enterprise will be implemented across the country, with the aim of enabling NHS Wales to offer more efficient, streamlined pathology services to patients.