On Wednesday 7th September, it was announced that West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust is to become a “centre for global digital excellence” after successfully bidding for a share of £100 million of NHS England funding. The Trust was invited to bid for funding by NHS England, having been identified as one of the country’s twenty six “most digitally advanced” trusts, following its introduction of ‘e-Care’, the electronic patient record system, earlier this year. Announced in the next few days, the Trust could be awarded up to £10 million.
The Trust has already confirmed that the funding will be invested in accelerating development of the ‘e-Care’ system; fully integrating it with systems used by GPs, other hospitals and care providers as well as social services. Furthermore, to develop a secure patient portal to give patients access to their personal health records including viewing their test results and communicating with their doctor.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Jo Churchill MP said:
“This announcement is terrific news for the Trust and for West Suffolk Hospital in my Bury St Edmunds constituency. As a firm advocate for the use of data to enhance the provision of care, I am particularly thrilled the recognition for digital health advancement has come from within my own constituency.
This morning, having spoken to Stephen Dunn, Chief Executive of West Suffolk Hospital we agreed that this funding, and the closer integration of technologies into our healthcare system, will deliver real benefit to clinicians and, above all, to patients.
This is a truly unique and exciting opportunity to transform healthcare not only in Suffolk, but across the country.”