Bolton NHS Trust extends digital health rollout to community services

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust has extended the rollout of Sunrise Electronic Patient Record (EPR), powered by Altera Digital Health, to its community services. The go-live marks a major milestone in its digital transformation journey and in supporting care beyond the hospital by joining up patient records across acute and community settings. 

Zoe Fitzsimmons, CXIO at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: “Our community users were especially excited to move away from paper and its associated inefficiencies. Now they are fully live on Sunrise EPR they have instant access to a patient’s up-to-date electronic record and can document directly into the record as a seamless entry from acute to community. Users are delighted with the efficiency gains they are making and are enjoying reinvesting the time back into direct care.”

The implementation also included going live across Outpatients to extend the reach and impact of the existing medication prescribing solution, and diagnostic orders and results for Radiology and Pathology.

The improved medication workflows are promoting adherence to regulatory guidelines, with the reduction of paper prescription forms, increased patient safety and a more comprehensive digital patient record. Overall, these unified clinical processes are unlocking improvements, including increasing time to care.

Zoe Fitzsimmons added: “This latest EPR go-live across Community and Outpatient is a significant milestone for Bolton’s digital strategy, which set out a vision for a seamless, end-to-end patient journey by sharing information with patients and across the health and social care system. Access to a single, up-to-date patient record has been transformative for the teams and enabled them to deliver safer, faster and more coordinated care. It’s a huge step towards a fully connected care experience for the people of Bolton, with more consistent care, regardless of the setting.”  

The go-live was a true team event with a smooth and successful launch that saw teams across both care settings quickly adjusting to the improved processes. In just the first month of being live, 17,614 pathology and radiology requests were processed, demonstrating immediate impact to the services.

Early feedback from users has been overwhelmingly positive with users praising the system’s ease of use and the noticeable improvement in workflows and patient care.  Jo Constantine, Team Leader of the Admission Avoidance Team at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust said: “Bringing electronic patient records into our community service has transformed care delivery. It has empowered our team with real-time information, helping them give faster, safer and more joined up care to people in their own homes.”

Patient safety was at the heart of the implementation. A significant portion of the implementation prior to going live focused on aligning new workflows with complex requirements and medication policies to ensure full compliance across community and outpatient services. 

Mark Hutchinson, Executive Vice President, Altera Digital Health (UK & EMEA) commented: “The progress at Bolton is a testament to what can be achieved with Altera’s highly configurable and flexible EPR with a clear vision and a robust digital infrastructure. By extending the EPR across Community and Outpatients, Bolton has significantly improved care coordination and communication, enhancing both safety and efficiency.

“This is a powerful example of how our EPR platform enables continuous care across the entire healthcare setting, breaking down silos and creating a truly unified patient record. We’re proud to be supporting Bolton as it extends these capabilities and look forward to the next phase that will further enhance care pathways by enabling integration with primary care services.”