Case Study - Anglia Support Partnership

Giving NHS Records Management the Profile It Deserves

02/01/2001 11:00

Nowhere does records management have such a high profile as it does in the National Health Service.

Critical Condition

With the prospect of ever increasing litigation and executives being held personally responsible for shortcomings, locating the correct patient record within an acceptable time frame is not only a measure of good service but also an operational requirement.

A highly pro-active approach to this situation is evident in the Cambridge and Ely areas where the Anglia Support Partnership is providing a comprehensive Records Management service to around ten organisations including Primary Care Trusts, Social Service Departments and also to NHS Direct.

Records Management for the Anglia Support Partnership is under the direction of Alan Bampton who is based at it's headquarters in Huntingdon.

Mr Bampton takes up the story...

An Effective Course of Treatment

"Some six or seven years ago, external auditors were critical of the clinical records management in the area and the service organisation of the day - Lifespan Healthcare NHS Trust - enlisted the assistance of Document Management Specialists Cave Tab.

Early in 1999 - after several months of planning with Cave Tab - two new 'live' record libraries and an archive store were established.  Files were housed in colour-coded folders and barcoded to facilitate tracking using Cave Tab Tracking Software."

The implementation of these filing and tracking systems - and the use of Cave Tab storage equipment for archiving - siginificantly improved the Records Management service being provided.

In 2000, the system was expanded to cover more users in the South of the area resulting in the establishment of a further two 'live' libraries with an additional 300,000 records to track.

"Cave Tab's solution has provided an insurance policy against litigation"

The capability of the system was subsequently extended to handle a further 130,000 records in the North of the area and at this point Cave Tab introduced Alchemy document management software.  Alchemy is Open Database Compatible, which means that development and integration with other software packages is quick and easy.

Alan Bampton continues...

"File Tracker and Alchemy packages have proved to be robust and reliable.  Whilst barcoding is considered by some to be 'old technology', it has been proven to work - and work efficiently.

We are now planning to increase our capabilities even further with a target of delivering any requested record to it's destination within five working days.  In fact, we are achieving much in excess of this with most records being available for use within 48 hours.

In summary, implentation of the systems reccommended and supplied by Cave Tab has enabled us to vastly improve the service to medical support staff and to achieve space and cost savings by moving record storage off main operational sites."

News category: About Cave Tab, Physical Records Management, Digital Records Management, Specialist Sectors


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