EAST Lothian Community Hospital has become the first hospital in Scotland to use a new process called Electronic Observation (eObs) on the existing patient TRAKCare monitoring system.

This will make tracking, recognising and responding to any deterioration in patients easier than ever before.

TRAKCare is the electronic patient management system to record and store information for patient consultations, investigations and treatments.

Fiona Wilson, chief officer for East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership, (ELHSCP) said: “For East Lothian Community Hospital to be selected as the first hospital to launch this new technology was a privilege.

“We have a fantastic team within the hospital and their willing and receptive attitude to embrace the new software has greatly assisted its implementation and adoption.

“Finding and adopting innovative means of enhancing the quality of care we provide to our patients is one of ELHSCP’s strategic objectives. We are incredibly grateful to NHS Lothian for providing us with this opportunity.

“Now installed, we are eager to witness the benefits this technology will bring to improving the speed in which we can react to patients’ conditions, and consequently enhancing the care standard delivered across our services.”

Gillian McAuley, acute nurse director for NHS Lothian said: “This is a great step forward for NHS Lothian.

“It will mean that staff can track deteriorating patients electronically by calculating what’s called the National Early Warning Score.

“This then prompts the staff member to ensure the patient receives the correct frequency of observations, which can be accessed remotely to support decision-making.This initiative would not have come about with fantastic efforts of the NHS’s eHealth team, who exceeded all of our initial expectation, and without whom this software innovation would not have come about.”

The new system will be rolled out across the wards at the Haddington hospital.