MORECAMBE Bay maternity units have become the first in England to go live with the groundbreaking Lorenzo electronic patient record system.

The computer programme gives the staff treating a patient access to constantly updated information wherever and whenever it is needed, regardless of which of the trust’s hospitals they are in.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) was the first acute trust in England to use the Lorenzo system when it went live across the majority of wards in the three Morecambe Bay hospitals - Westmorland General Hospital, Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Furness General Hospital - in June 2010. Implementation at RLI and FGH’s accident and emergency departments followed by November 2012.

The Lorenzo system means patient records need no longer be paper-based, which trust bosses hailed as a major step for patient safety. The version being rolled out today (Monday) at the trust’s three maternity units has been especially designed for maternity patients.

Patient records will be instantly accessible across all of the trust’s hospitals, including any relevant medical history and all test results. However, staff can only see a patient’s information if it is relevant to their job. UHMBT says it will be able to offer a safer service, carry out fewer duplicate investigations and reduce the number of avoidable admissions to hospital.

Trust medical director George Nasmyth said: “Making sure our doctors and nurses have the most up to date and relevant information on hand when they treat a patient is crucial to ensure we offer the best possible care to our local communities.

“Lorenzo enables the sharing of this information across our hospitals meaning that patient care becomes more personal and safer – both of which are extremely important.”

Lorenzo will replace the current system, Evolution, at all three of the maternity departments this evening. UHMBT says the rollout has been planned not only to ensure minimum disruption to patient care, but also to make the changeover as easy as possible for trust staff.

Mr Nasmyth said: “Lorenzo will deliver some real benefits for patients and staff. To start with, however, women and families may experience a slight delay at the reception desk. We learnt a lot from the implementation of the system across the rest of the hospitals and have put sufficient support on hand for staff to ensure that any delay is as short as it possibly can be.

“I would like to thank the public and our staff in advance for their patience and cooperation.”

Steve Fairclough, head of health informatics, said: “We have been working hard with our doctors, nurses and support staff to make sure that Lorenzo works the way we want it.

“With the launch of any new computer system, you expect to encounter teething problems that only appear after go-live. We have a team of people on site 24 hours a day who are appropriately equipped and experienced to both identify and fix any that may appear.”