'Keep mums and babies safe by improving digital medical records'

With the distressing spate of news reports about mums and ­babies who weren’t kept safe in hospital, an initiative in the Midlands to improve patient safety in maternal and acute care settings comes as a relief.

The newly announced Midlands Patient Safety Research Collaboration will bring together NHS trusts, ­universities and private business to evaluate how digital tools can help clinical decision making and reduce danger for patients.

Problems can arise if communication is poor between medics when patients move between departments.

Professor Alice Turner of Birmingham University said: “The power of new technology available to us means that we can address one of the ongoing areas of risk for patients, which is effective communication and clinical decision making.

“The new collaboration will be looking at how digital tools can make a real difference to reduce risks and support patient safety in the areas of acute medicine and maternal health.”

Digital decision-making tools could improve prescribing and personalised management for patients needing emergency care.

Importantly, these tools should provide a smoother flow of information between healthcare professionals in acute care between hospitals, doctors and the West Midlands Ambulance Service, and hopefully reduce risks of patient harm at key points during acute care.

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Source: The Mirror, 18 December 2022