Health professional accessing a form on a tablet PC

Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS FT introduces digitisation programme

One of the largest specialist orthopaedic trusts in Europe is aiming to improve its data management through the introduction of a new e-forms system.

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (ROH) is embarking on a large-scale digital transformation programme which will see it utilise a new low code platform to quickly create e-forms, enabling it to significantly simplify the collection of information and alleviate administrative pressures on its staff.

The project was launched with the building of a lateral flow test submission form, which under the new system took just two days to set up and implement.

Rapid lateral flow tests have been used to find asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 during the pandemic, in particular helping ensure the safety of patients and staff alike, and the trust’s new form enables all 1,500 members of staff to submit their results in real time, which can then be easily shared with NHS England every three days.

Vickie Pring, Senior Web and Systems Developer at ROH said: “A key driver for our digitisation strategy has been to facilitate enhanced reporting procedures, enabling us to meet the demands of the pandemic and provide the best possible care to our patients.

“When we were told the Trust would be embarking on staff lateral flow testing, we had just a few days to digitise a process. e-Forms provide a cost-effective solution and an accessible format for staff to share their data whilst at home. Staff simply input their employee number to search within the database, populate and submit their test results.”

The e-form template has since been adapted by the trust’s HR department to create two new Covid-19 risk assessment forms.

Led by Charlotte Tattam, a Business Data Analyst at the trust, she and her team were able to assist the department in creating an easy, paperless process that is completed by a staff member in the presence of their line manager.

She explained: “We needed to create an e-Form which was easy for staff members and their line managers to use. Once staff have completed the risk assessment form and it has been processed by HR, they are provided with a PDF copy for their records.

“Our goal from the beginning was to reduce the use of paper and allow the HR Department to complete audits in a quick and efficient manner. The process saves the team hours of manual data input whilst also ensuring personal and confidential information is stored securely.”

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