THE everyday work of nurses and midwives on the wards of Okehampton Community Hospital is set to be revolutionised, after the Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust secured nearly £400,000 in national funding to equip frontline staff with modern hand-held computers to support the way they care for patients.

The trust won the money from the Nursing Technology Fund, which was launched by Prime Minister David Cameron and led by NHS England.

The Samsung Galaxy tablets, which come with a digital pen, will be used by nursing staff at Okehampton and Moretonhampstead Hospitals and the rest of the hospitals the trust manages in Exeter, North, Mid and East Devon.

The new technology will enable staff to quickly and easily record and review key clinical information at the patient's bedside.

The aim is to reduce paperwork and free up nursing staff so they can spend more quality time with patients and further improve the care they provide.

Bev Cox, assistant director of nursing, who is leading the trust's project, said: 'We were ecstatic when we heard our application was successful.

'This will offer our nursing staff a great opportunity to lead the way in using modern technology to support them to deliver safe, high-quality, patient-centred care.

'These mobile devices can be used at the patient's bedside, putting valuable information at a nurse or midwife's fingertips and allowing them to input and access data electronically at the point of care.

'Staff will be able to work more efficiently and flexibly and spend more time face-to-face with the people they care for, ultimately benefitting our patients.'

The Trust's award of £388,700 was the 28th highest in the country of the 86 given out by the Nursing Technology Fund.

Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health, said: 'Innovative new technologies such as digital pens, tablets and clinical software mean staff can spend more time with patients, not paperwork, and offer safer care.

'This fund will allow nurses and midwives to develop new, more modern ways of working that will benefit staff and patients.'

Alongside the award, the trust is separately buying a series of iPads for use by senior clinical staff. In total, about 350 tablets and iPads will be rolled out to all the trust's hospitals and wards over the next six months.

As well as key clinical information, staff will be able to access e-mails, the trust's intranet and other applications.

Staff will eventually be able to tap into the trust's electronic health record, which is due to be rolled out in 2015, while the project is also in line with the national NHS aim of being paperless by 2018.

The award follows the successful deployment in 2012 of over 800 Galaxy tablets to all the trust's nurses and allied health professionals who work in the community.