Digital Transformation

The direct alignments between the digital transformation agenda and a net zero NHS are clear and increasing the use of digital technologies is one of the stated aims of the UHN Board.  NGH shares a digital department with KGH. 

Where we are now: 

There has been significant increase in the digital capability positively impacting both clinical and non-clinical services across NGH: 

• MyPreOp has been fully implemented, reducing carbon emissions and travel for patients requiring a pre-operative assessment. The implementation of eConsent is underway which will reduce the need for pre-operative assessments. 

• A new contract has started that rolled out more energy efficient MFDs (MultiFunctionalDevices) across the Trust and colour printing has been turned off for the majority of staff. 

• High speed connectivity between NGH and KGH is being implemented to allow services to be shared and spread across the two sites and data centres. 

• Electronic Patient Record system purchased. As part of this procurement Software As A Service (SAAS) was stipulated as a pass / fail question to ensure NHS / Government strategic alignment 

• Office 365 via NHS Connect rolled out. 

• Patient Engagement Portal is being implemented across UHN initially enabling Outpatient appointment letters to be sent digitally massively reducing paper usage, toner, power to the printers, carbon emissions for each letter sent in the post. 

Our aims are to:

1. Reduce paper and printing through the use of digital solutions. 

2. Reduce the number of patient letters posted 

3. Reduce patient travel to site through alternative care models utilising digital solutions 

4. Reduce the environmental impact of data centres and devices

Digital Transformation Action Plan

Action	Financial Investment	When	Responsible Department
Action Roll out of Electronic Patient Records	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When 2025 - 2027	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Roll out Digital Histology Services	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce power usage through replacement of legacy switches with newer more energy efficient models as part of the network refresh programme	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Implementation of  Patient Engagement enabling Outpatient appointment letters to be sent digitally massively reducing paper usage, toner, power to the printers, carbon emissions for each letter sent in the post.	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Implementation of an appropriate system to increase virtual consultations	Financial Investment High	When 2025-2026	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Further roll out of virtual clinics and wards so patients can remain at home	Financial Investment Medium - Already in place	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce use of paper growth charts for maternity patients through implementation of Grow 2.0	Financial Investment Low - Project Complete	When 2024	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce paper usage across community maternity services by implementing Badgernet EPR for patient records	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When 2026	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce paper by introducing electronic prescribing for outpatients	Financial Investment High - Already in place	When Part of the new Electronic Patient Records - 2026	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce power consumption by consolidating and reducing the footprint of physical infrastructure. (e.g. reduce network comms and on-premise Data Centres).	Financial Investment High - As part of the Kettering General Hospital New Hospital Programme we plan to decommission one of the two data centres at Kettering General Hospital and use the Northampton General Hospital data centres to host services. Additionally a programme of work has been taking place to remove physical servers by virtualising them or moving them to cloud. The Northampton General Hospital Electronic Patient Records was stipulated that it must be provided via Software as a Service during the procurement as this has avoided >50 additional servers being deployed in Northampton General Hospital data centres.	When 2025-2030	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce power consumption from end point user devices by increasing use of cloud based Virtual Desktop by moving them to thin clients or being able to run on any device (including personal devices securely)	Financial Investment Medium - This is on the One Digital roadmap to have a common Virtual Desktop across University Hospitals of Northamptonshire/University Hospitals of Leicester.	When TBC	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Reduce power consumption by investing in power saving endpoint management to be able to manage end point device power settings to switch machines off when not in use	Financial Investment Low - Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital have now aligned endpoint management platforms.	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Explore options for further reuse of redundant equipment	Financial Investment Low - Possible revenue income by using recycling companies	When 2025 / 2026	Responsible Department One Digital
Action Create a checklist for new equipment purchases to ensure the Circular Economy principles are included	Financial Investment Low	When 2025 / 2026	Responsible Department One Digital / Sustainability
Action Use of Multifunctional Device information to proactively reduce printing	Financial Investment Medium - Already in place - Colour printing has been restricted across University Hospital of Northamptonshire to named individuals	When 2025	Responsible Department One Digital

Measurement

Paper purchase information from procurement 

Power consumption from electricity meters 

Number of virtual consultations carried out from information team 

Postage information from post room and hybrid mail supplier 

EPR benefits realisation from Digital Team.