Sunderland Royal hospital named as one of the most digitally advanced organisations across the NHS

The Sunderland hospital has been awarded Level 7 status from the Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS), which is the highest global digital quality standard.

It’s taken almost 30 years to create a fully integrated electronic patient record and the hospital is pioneering the way for others in the NHS to follow.

The digital standard means Sunderland’s Hospital joins a group of organisations around the world to achieve the internationally recognised HIMSS Level 7 standard.

The award follows major long-term investment in technology and in February this year the organisation became the first hospital in the country to be accredited with Global Digital Exemplar status.

Dr Kevin Joisce, Consultant in Emergency Medicine and Chief Clinical Information Officer at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is fantastic news for our patients and testament to the hard work and dedication of all clinical colleagues who have truly embraced our digital ambitions to make them a reality in Sunderland.

“Using the most up-to-date and advanced digital systems is as part and parcel of our ethos and how we want to deliver patient care and to achieve Level 7 accreditation reflects the digital maturity of our Trust."

The Trust’s Meditech Electronic Patient Record (EPR) is used to ensure clinical teams have access to live, up-to-date patient information from all departments.

Andy Hart, Director of Information Management and Technology at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust said: “Embracing technology has long been at the heart of our strategic thinking and a tremendous amount of work has taken place by all of our clinical teams to reach this important milestone for Sunderland Royal Hospital and for the NHS as a whole."

Sunderland Royal Hospital became one of the first Trusts in the country to be confirmed onto the national Global Digital Exemplar (GDE) programme, helping to share its digital expertise across the NHS.

Andy added: “Achieving our paper-free ambitions for Sunderland Royal has only been possible thanks to a long-standing commitment from the whole organisation, right from the Board to all clinical colleagues on the shop floor, and I’m immensely proud of what we have achieved.”

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