Doncaster invests in digital dictation first

Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a ground-breaking new integrated digital dictation system to help clinicians meet next month’s new 24 hour target for delivering discharge communications to GP practices.

The electronic correspondence solution automatically matches digitally dictated clinical notes with PAS patient details to produce an electronic clinic attendance letter or discharge summary at the touch of a button.

“Analogue dictation is nothing new within the NHS,” explains Tom Rothwell, Managing Director at system developers Medisec Software, “but to date it has formed part of a time-consuming process where file notes and audio cassettes are physically moved between departments around a hospital building, with all the opportunities for delay and errors that this entails.  With the Medisec system, everything is digitally tagged and therefore much faster to find and action.”

The consultant identifies the patient from the central PAS and creates a dictation using digital dictation software from Talking Point. This file then automatically appears in the relevant medical secretary’s workflow (without them having to search for it).

When they open up the voice file, the system automatically downloads the most up-to-date patient information from the Patient Administration System (e.g. date of birth, address, NHS number and GP) into a letter template. The completed document is then forwarded to the consultant to review and sign off electronically.

The integrated approach heralds a significant departure from more traditional methods of handling clinical letters and promises to improve standards of patient care, reduce risk and save medical secretaries hours of time and effort every day.