Update from IM&T Committee – June 2009

1. Introduction

This paper aims to provide the Performance Committee with a summary of IM&T activities and key issues for the directorate.

2. Key activities in April - June

Staff–The implementation of the IM&T structure is now complete. The new Head of Information started in May joining the two new information analysts. Handover and training to the new team has gone well. All the information provision and external reporting has been completed to time.

IM&T Strategy –Implementation plan for the strategy are under development. Dr Nan Mitchellis writing a briefing document to communicate the key aspects of the IM&T Strategy relevant to the clinical community.

Bolsover Street Redevelopment – Decision has been made to install a digital telephony system at Bolsover which will be connected to the current analogue system at Stanmore. The system has provision to move the Stanmore to digital in phases over a period of time. The new system will be cheaper to run and provide functionality necessary for a modern organisation.

Options appraisal is underway for the desktop technology to be implemented at the new site.

Clinical Documentation Library – With the approval of this proposal development work has started. Clinicians from Joint Reconstruction Unit, Shoulder Unit and the Foot and Ankle Unit have agreed to take part in the specification and the pilot. Delivery of this system will provide the Trust with a beginning of an electronic patient record system.

Information Governance–The Information Governance (IG)team are developing an action plan to continue to develop all aspects of IG within the Trust. Embedding responsibility of IG within theTrust is critical, the team are therefore also developing a Communications Plan to remind staff of the importance of information security and the key aspects of the Information Governance Policy. We are awaiting delivery of new E-learning materials from Connecting from Health before making a final decision on the product to be used at the Trust.

The internal auditors have been asked to carry out an audit of IG and information security. This will be carried out in July/August.

Coding and Payments by Results–Technical implementation of HRGv4 has gone well. It has been a sharp learning curve for the clinical coding team and they have performed well, meeting the May’s coding target ahead of schedule. The Head of Coding will be analysing the impact of HTGv4 on Trust income once at the end of the first quarter.

3. Proposals and policies submitted to the IM&T Committee

The IM&T Committee approved the following proposals:

  • Clinical Documentation and Digital Dictation Project

The following policywas approved:

  • Data Quality Procedures

4. Key issues/risks to note (some remain the same as the previous month)

  • Availability and provision of information for operational management and strategic development – key initiative to address this is the Data Warehouse Project now called ‘RNOH Insight’. The project is progressing well with the first deliverable scheduled for the end of June. This will include delivery of all 18 week monitoring information via RNOH Insight.
  • Quality of data –The RNOH Insight Data Quality Workstream is being set up and will commence work in July.
  • Information security –This is a cultural issue and therefore the risk of an IG incident remains.
  • Risk of virus attack – All possible defences are in place, however new viruses are being developed daily and therefore a risk of virus attack remains.An audit has been completed of all PCs and servers to ensure that they have the latest virus software, and Windows security upgrade. Over 95% of all PCs had the latest virus and Windows security upgrades.
  • Blood results system – The IM&T Committee agreed that the upgrade to the bloods results, approved by the Committee in April, will be halted to appraise the changes at Barnet and Chase, the Trust’s pathology supplier. The existing blood system therefore continues to pose a security risk and has been added to the IM&T risk register.

Saroj Patel, Director of IM&T, June 2009Page 1 of 2