East and North Hertfordshire Trust completes initial roll-out of electronic patient system

East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust has rolled out Lorenzo, a major element of its new electronic patient record computer system.

Lorenzo allows the trust’s staff to have improved access to information about their patients in real-time, which in turn supports clinical decisions being made more quickly.

In addition to Lorenzo, the Trust has launched a new electronic patient observations service called Nervecentre in many parts of its hospitals. This allows clinical staff to enter observations about their patients, such as blood pressure and temperature readings. Not only does the service do away with traditional handwritten charts, it supports the automatic escalation of patients who are at risk of deteriorating and need urgent review.

Nick Carver, the trust’s chief executive, said: “Talking to colleagues who have rolled out similar systems in other NHS hospitals across the country, it is clear that our staff have done very well over the last week or so. We’re now at the point of sorting out the inevitable teething problems that come with such a major project, but I would like to thank our staff publicly for their hard work – and our patients and local GPs for their understanding and patience over the last few days.”