Centre for Perfect Care - Global Digital Exemplar

Information Technology is increasingly recognised as a major enabler of change and transformation. As a Global Digital Exemplar we're working on a number of projects looking at delivering exceptional care, efficiently, through the use of world-class digital technology and information.

A central component of NHS England’s Driving Digital Maturity programme is to create global digital exemplars.

A global digital exemplar will be an internationally recognised NHS care provider delivering exceptional care, efficiently, through the world-class use of digital technology and information flows, both within and beyond their organisation boundary. It will also be a reference site to other care providers.

Mersey Care is a Global Digital Exemplar

Information Technology is increasingly recognised as a major enabler of change and transformation. As a Global Digital Exemplar Mersey Care has a number of innovative projects to deliver exceptional care, efficiently, through the use of world-class digital technology and information.

In secondary care in particular, the benefits of investing in and optimising digital technology are not yet delivering the aims outlined in the Five Year Forward View.

In 2017 Mersey Care successfully attracted £5m of central NHS funding to accelerate our ambition to digitally transform our services. This means that we use technology and digital systems in all aspects of the services we offer, and that we design systems and apps with the insight and co-production of our service users and staff. Our ambitious estates programme includes augmented reality and virtual reality technology integral to new secure services, aimed at ensuring vulnerable service users access appropriate therapeutic technology safely and to their benefit. Avatar therapy is already the norm in medium secure mental health services.

The GDE programme is led by Dr David Fearnley – Mersey Care’s Medical Director - who is also the Chief Clinical Information Officer for the Trust.

What does this mean for the people we serve?

we support some of the most vulnerable and excluded people in society and in a geography with very high levels of digital exclusion
we will use digital technology in all aspects of mental and physical health care
we are encouraging learning for local and global health systems to show the potential of digital technology to transform outcomes in mental and physical health
we will transform outcomes for people with mental and physical health problems: with quicker access to services, more control over their own health, reduced premature mortality and death by self-harm, enabling sustainable recovery
because digitisation is about people and not just technology, we will co-produce our programme with service users and frontline clinicians to ensure that technology is useful and fully adopted
We are making mental and physical health services a receptive culture for digital technology by focusing on the people who use and provide services at the frontline.

What are our headline pieces of work?

developing clinical digital leadership through the organisation
enhancing and develop digital skills for our service users and staff
enhance service users to have access to their own care record
patient focussed digital services such as VR and AR in our new build secure hospitals
using most up to date technologies and apps to focus on the prediction and prevention of crisis, self-harm and suicide.

What else will we do?

accelerate the implementation of the RIO Clinical Information System in Local services
continue the implementation of the electronic prescribing and medicines management system
automate and standardise clinical pathways to reduce variation and improve access to services
work with other partners to achieve interoperability and information sharing
develop information-based tools to support clinicians and teams to manage caseloads and individual services users by predicting and preventing crises
use technology to simplify training for staff and extend the learning platform to our partners
scale up the use of Mersey Care apps and other approved apps, such as our work with ORCHA who curate apps and make them available for clinical prescription.

Partners, colleagues and stakeholders

We are working alongside other local NHSE global digital exemplars Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospital Trust and Salford Royal NHS FT.

Through our Centre for Perfect Care we have well established long term relationships with Locktons and The Risk Authority Stanford and newly developed partnerships with OTSUKA, Relias and Validic.

Global Digital Exemplar Projects

Mersey Care are working on a number of projects looking at delivering exceptional care, efficiently, through the use of world-class digital technology and information. These projects include but are not limited to the following:

Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration system

Mersey Care is the first Trust to use the JAC Electronic Prescribing & Medicines Administration system (known as EPMA) within a high secure environment (Ashworth Hospital)

EMIS - Mersey Care's web clinical records system

Mersey Care clinical staff in the Local Services Division now have access to patient information from a service user’s records held in the GP’s EMIS Web clinical records system.

Otsuka Health Solutions (OHS) MAST Dashboard

Community Mental Health Nurses in Mersey Care are piloting an innovative system giving them the kind of dashboard view of their caseloads previously available only to managers

RiO - Mersey Care's core patient record system

RiO is Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's chosen core patient record system. It is the foundation upon which a lot of the digital advances being planned by the Trust will be based.

My Person Held Record (MyPHR)

RiO is Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's chosen core patient record system. It is the foundation upon which a lot of the digital advances being planned by the Trust will be based.

Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration system

Mersey Care is the first Trust to use the JAC Electronic Prescribing & Medicines Administration system (known as EPMA) within a high secure environment (Ashworth Hospital)

EMIS - Mersey Care's web clinical records system

Mersey Care clinical staff in the Local Services Division now have access to patient information from a service user’s records held in the GP’s EMIS Web clinical records system.

Otsuka Health Solutions (OHS) MAST Dashboard

Community Mental Health Nurses in Mersey Care are piloting an innovative system giving them the kind of dashboard view of their caseloads previously available only to managers.

RiO - Mersey Care's core patient record system

RiO is Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's chosen core patient record system. It is the foundation upon which a lot of the digital advances being planned by the Trust will be based.

My Person Held Record (MyPHR)

RiO is Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust's chosen core patient record system. It is the foundation upon which a lot of the digital advances being planned by the Trust will be based.