QEH to overhaul care with digital patient records, more staff

Patient records will go off paper and go online with a new health information system (HIS) at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) to streamline patient care and reduce waiting times, Chief Executive Officer Neil Clark announced on Monday.

The digital hospital records system is one of a slew of developments Clark announced as the island’s lone public general hospital nears its 60th anniversary, amid a renewed drive to improve efficiency and patient experience.

Clark, who took up the role six months ago, appeared on the QEH Pulse Radio Show to discuss the hospital’s strategic roadmap. The implementation of the HIS forms part of a broader strategy to enhance the hospital’s services. The initiative aims to tackle persistent issues stemming from the hospital’s reliance on manual data collection that often leads to delays in patient care as records go missing or are in doctors’ possession.

“When we get the health information system, which we’ve not had in the hospital before, we’ll be able to see activity immediately,” Clark said. “One of the challenges I have at the moment is without activity, without data, it’s very hard to make a good decision. So we have to get the data collected and available to us.”

The HIS will allow real-time access to patient information from multiple points within the hospital, a move that Clark described as “revolutionary” for QEH. The system is expected to improve patient flow, reduce waiting times, and eliminate the need for time-consuming manual processes.

“We’ll be able to capture things in real-time, as opposed to the current manual process of going through numerous files,” Clarke explained, noting that complaints about missing patient records have been frequent. “Having everything available in real-time with multiple access points will be a game changer for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.”

Clark outlined plans to recruit additional staff and acquire new equipment to alleviate pressure in critical areas, including the Accident and Emergency (A&E) department, which has been plagued by long waiting times.

“The waiting times in [A&E] are too long,” he acknowledged. “It’s not a good service with those waiting times. It’s not a good patient experience.”

Clark revealed that more senior doctors and clinical staff would be hired to help manage patient flow through A&E, while also increasing surgical capacity in the operating theatres.

In addition to staffing improvements, the hospital is awaiting the installation of new medical equipment, including a linear accelerator for oncology treatments and a CT scanner for the A&E department. The linear accelerator, already on the island, will allow for more effective radiation therapy once the necessary infrastructure is completed.

“There are several works to enable the linear accelerator to move into the building, and then we can start to commission it,” the hospital CEO said. “Once operational, it will significantly improve the way we manage oncology patients.”

The new CT scanner is expected to reduce diagnostic delays by allowing faster assessments within the A&E department, minimising the need to transfer patients between departments. “Keeping [diagnostics] all local will make that a much simpler and smoother process and should speed up the waiting times for the patients,” Clark explained.

The hospital administrator also stressed the importance of maintaining staff morale throughout the hospital’s transformation, emphasising that the workforce is QEH’s most valuable asset. “When people talk about the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, some people see a building. I see the staff because they are the hospital,” he said. “It’s all those individuals doing all those different jobs that all contribute towards patient experience and patient safety.”

As the hospital moves forward with a three-year strategic plan to 2028, Clark indicated that public input would be sought once internal consultations with staff are complete. “We want to hear [from the public]… have we got it right, have we missed something, is there something else that we need to do?” he told the radio programme. (SM)