THE NHS trust which runs Okehampton Community Hospital has received approval for government funding to implement a new electronic health record (EHR) which should radically change the way the trust works.

As the NHS faces the challenges of increased demand and increasingly complex health needs of the population, the Northern Devon Healthcare Trust's EHR is intended to improve the way the trust works and transform the way it cares for patients.

Work is already underway on the Smartcare programme, which includes the introduction of the new EHR, as well as other technologies to support frontline staff.

It will be delivered over the next two years with the first phase of services starting to use aspects of the EHR this winter.

Consultant respiratory physician Dr Alison Moody said: 'The EHR will enable us to make quicker, better informed decisions about a patient's care as we will have ready access to their health care history.

'Once established, it will also enable us to involve patients more in decisions about their care and ultimately we hope patients will be able to access and view their own records.

'For many of our patients, we gather vast amounts of information on paper, from which it can be difficult to retrieve the relevant and important facts we need.

'This often results in patients having to repeat the same information to different health care professionals.

'The electronic system will save time and avoid duplication of tasks, leaving more time to care for our patients.'

The EHR system will be implemented at Okehampton Hospital, all the trust's other community hospitals and North Devon District Hospital. The system, along with other improvements, will support staff and the work they do through an accessible, secure, reliable and fast technology platform.

Clinical and support staff from across Devon have been involved in the planning phase of the programme over the last year and will continue to shape the way the system is used to support patient care.

The biggest change is a move from paper-based records and a basic electronic system to a fully-integrated health record which can allow colleagues in partner organisations, including GPs and social care, to access and input to a single patient record.

The funding approval and signing of the contract with InterSystems, which builds the EHR system, marks the end of a two-year procurement and evaluation with the Southern Acute Programme with Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Yeovil District Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

Chief executive of the healthcare trust Dr Alison Diamond said: 'This is a really exciting opportunity to shape the way we work in the future, ensuring our technology and our services are fit for purpose for years to come.

'Working with the InterSystems team and having clinical staff really driving the programme, I am confident that we will start to see the benefits to working life in the NHS and our patients very soon.'