District nurses use Chrome at home!

District nurses in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil are using Chromebooks during home visits to speed up access to patient information and avoid delays in treatment.

 

With the introduction of this new technology, funded by Welsh Government, district nurses have direct access to the health board’s electronic systems and patient information.  They can view test results which gives them the ability to manage the patient’s condition more effectively at home, improving patient outcomes and potentially avoiding unnecessary hospital admission or attendance at A&E.

 

Eighty year old Mrs Harris from Treherbert, who has relied on district nursing care for a number of years, said:  “It’s a marvellous system, I had a swab taken on my leg to check for infection when the nurse visited me last time, she came back a few days later and could look direct to her Chromebook for results to help decide my treatment”. 

 

District nurse team leader, Andrea Dorrington, said: “The Chromebooks have been very successful.  It saves us time ringing for results and calling into surgeries, we can see exactly what treatment is required and action it instantly – this prevents delays in medication and treatment.  We can also use the chrome book to order patient equipment and book referrals.

 

“It has given us the ability to check our visits online which saves us time by avoiding unnecessary visits to patients, who may have been admitted to hospital”. 

 

Janet Kelland, who manages the project said: “The Chromebooks have proved a great asset to staff in the community.  The systems will be developed further to enable nurses to access more information for the patient’s benefit, such as GP surgery portals. 

 

“We are always looking at ways to improve the effectiveness and efficiency to the care that we provide to our patients and this has definitely been a positive way forward”.