Skip to content Skip to main menu Skip to utility menu

Heartbeat: Working together to get the most from Unity

June 4, 2019

Imagine a new system that will make the way we work safer and more efficient? That is exactly what Unity will do for you and your patients.

Even if you work in a department that uses other systems like BadgerNet or SystmOne, our electronic patient record will join up what we know about care.

So what are the biggest benefits?

  • Safety: Electronic prescribing will replace paper drug charts. This will mean the information can be viewed in different places at the same time, but also that transcription errors will reduce.
  • Quality: Simplified and standardised ordering will improve speed, accuracy and legibility. If you attended a Favourite Fair to set up your favourites, the orders you need most will be easy to access.
  • Time: Unity will make it much quicker to submit orders, process investigations and produce reports, freeing you up to care. It will also make handover simpler and again we will all use a single approach.

Another integral part of Unity is the clinical decision support system which aims to present the right information at the right time, provides recommendations for best practice (based on clinical guidelines and evidence–based medicine), and delivers alerts when a chosen action deviates from recommended practice or could cause an error. We have worked hard to get the balance between too many alerts and the right prompts!

Putting Unity into place is just the first step. Every clinical group and directorate is now working towards a set of optimisation measures. This reflects the fact that we will all get the most from Unity if we all make good use of Unity. One person opting out affects the body of knowledge on which we all rely. That is why individuals and teams will, after go–live, get data driven feedback on your use of Unity, and how it compares to your colleagues and peers. We will be working intensively with individuals to make sure that we achieve optimal use over a six month period.

In the last few weeks, the 28–Day Challenge has focused on increasing everyone’s skills, knowledge and confidence, while Favourite Fairs gave colleagues the opportunity to customise their settings on Unity and make it easier to use. Over 95% of colleagues have now undertaken basic training. E–learning modules are also on the way next month to support further training and the Play

System means that you can test your skills and knowledge in a safe environment. All of us will undertake a core competency assessment in the next few weeks against the key Unity skills we need, and each local team will also be going through testing and assessment before go–live. Digital champions will have an important role to play in the coming months. We now have more than 900 across the Trust, who will help to resolve issues and support anyone who may be struggling to use Unity. The first part of digital champions training, focusing on soft skills, has been launched. All line managers will also, as part of their role, become super users, able to coach team members in how to get the most from the system.

As an organisation, our IT infrastructure has been upgraded and more work is being done to ensure it can support Unity. All devices are being tested and new ones introduced in areas that need them. These are some of the key criteria that the Board has adopted before go–live to make sure that we have a successful launch. The Chief Executive’s Friday message will give you more information each week on our countdown. There is a huge amount going on to be ready for the new system – we need everyone to play their part.