Emergency departments in three hospitals across Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust have deployed new technology to save time.

The technology, Alcidion's Miya Emergency, digitises paper processes, automates tasks, and gives visibility of patient status and A&E activity.

Clinical professionals and end users were deeply involved in this complex undertaking, from the moment a decision was made to deliver a new emergency department electronic patient record.

A comprehensive team managed the procurement, core design, and implementation of Miya Emergency across three emergency departments.

This approach enabled rapid and effective progress, and within 10 months of contract commencement, teams redesigned complex clinical workflows, integrated key systems, engaged a full range of stakeholders, and prepared staff in and beyond emergency departments before a successful simultaneous go-live on a single day.

Delivered on time and within budget, the new system now supports end-to-end patient workflow.

It allows teams to capture data for patients coming into the trust’s emergency department, streamlining processes as they are treated, and ensuring seamless data continuity as they move forward in their care – as inpatient admissions, or during discharge back to the community.

Paper processes are progressively being removed as Miya Emergency is integrated with other trust digital systems.

Dr Tamara Everington, former chief clinical information officer for Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and now chief medical officer at Queen Victoria Hospital, Sussex, said: "Clinical and operational staff see enormous potential in Miya Emergency to help them work in more modern ways, in support of better outcomes and efficiency.

"The system works extremely well, providing cross-trust visibility of what is going on in our emergency departments."

Implementation to date has seen the deployment of a core system, which has been integrated into the trust’s current electronic patient record, and which is already able to communicate important discharge information to GP practices.

Dr Paul Deffley, chief medical officer for Alcidion, said: "The complexity of reimagining workflow across not only three busy emergency departments – but across upstream and downstream services within and beyond hospital walls – cannot be understated.

"Nevertheless, the team at Hampshire Hospitals has done this in an impressive and collaborative way."

Hampshire Hospitals’ operations director (medical division), Zena Ludick, said: "Transitioning to MIYA while maintaining extremely busy emergency departments was no small challenge; this change impacted all members of our ED staff and also required departments throughout the trust to prepare and respond."