Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (QVH), a specialist hospital providing life-changing reconstructive surgery, burns care and rehabilitation services, has gone live with its first electronic patient record (EPR) system. The partnership with Altera Digital Health successfully launched the Sunrise EPR platform, replacing many of their patient and clinical documents in paper form and becoming paper-lite in processes.

Known as Archie EPR, a name chosen by staff,  as a nod to pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe, this marks the most significant digital transformation the Trust has ever undertaken and is central to QVH’s long-term strategy to become a fully digitally enabled NHS provider.

During go live, QVH was supported by 120 members of staff who became Digital Champions and  floorwalkers from Altera, NHS England and other local NHS Trusts helping from day 1, helping the clinical services to adopt the changes more seamlessly. As a speciality Trust with high volume cases of Theatre procedures, it was important that staff felt supported on the ground level and could resolve any challenges that were raised. The feedback from staff has been amazingly positive.

Kirsten Timmins, Chief Operating Officer at QVH said: “I witnessed one of the smoothest transitions over from analogue to digital, and we couldn’t have done it without our staff embracing this journey. It has been a privilege to be part of this work bringing together QVH staff, digital and technical contractors, Altera Digital Health, NHSE teams and support from neighbouring Trusts. The success of the roll out truly reflects our values as we have succeeded together. Archie EPR will transform the way we work together and across the NHS.”

Read more: Altera Digital Health makes Sunrise 25.1 available to UK healthcare market

Mark Hutchinson, Executive Vice President at Altera Digital Health (UK & EMEA) said: “Huge congratulations to QVH on the successful go live of its first EPR and for significantly advancing the Trust’s digital maturity. The new EPR is providing a single source of patient data, so clinical teams have comprehensive, real-time information at their fingertips to improve decision-making and patient safety. This is a fantastic achievement that was made possible by the team’s unwavering commitment throughout to ensure it remained patient focused, clinically led and digitally enabled.”

Archie EPR will allow nursing and clinical teams to receive timely electronic notifications to undertake reviews and guides for decision support, ensuring proactive and responsive care. The future is to continue optimising the system, giving staff more time to focus on delivering exceptional care. 

Romana Balle, Chief Nursing Information Officer at QVH said: “Archie EPR marks the beginning of QVH’s digital journey. It represents a foundational step in modernising our clinical systems and strengthening the digital capability of our organisation. The implementation was very successful and we had positive feedback on clearer access to patient information and more efficient ways of working for teams across the Trust and with the wider NHS.”

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