According to the BBC, a recent report has found that Hospitals in the UK could help prevent thousands of deaths a year. The report states that hospitals with better use of Information Technology see a fall in deaths of emergency patients over the year.
Univerity Hospital Birmingham have a system in place which the trust say has contributed to the 17% fall in deaths among these emergency patients. The system includes a reminder system which makes sure patients medication dose is not missed. The report shows how the trust also used the system to prevent potential prescriptions that could harm a patient.
Health Minister Simon Burns said the system was “an excellent example of how the NHS can harness information to improve patient care”.
“Our ambition is to unleash a revolution of information throughout the NHS, so that everyone benefits from a modern, responsive service,” he said.
The system at University Hospitals Birmingham is one of several commercially available to the NHS. The chief executive of the Patients Association, Katherine Murphy, welcomed the work at the trust.
“This system has the potential to really make a big difference to patient safety across the board. By highlighting ongoing problems and trends in patient care, ward and trust leaders can put changes in place to prevent other patients from suffering in the same way, learning from their mistakes rather than trying to bury them under bureaucracy.”
