The message <[log in to unmask]>
from Ruth Brown <[log in to unmask]> contains these words:
> Dear List, not really that academic but very interested if anyone can help
> me. DOes anyone out there have a truly paperless A&E record, ie no paper
> records, everything straight into the computer, downloaded at patient
> bedside, image transfer and all?
> If so, could you reply privately rather than clog up the list, thanks Ruth
This is not quite an answer, but today has been so catastrophic that
I write about the situation only condemn such a system in the context
of a pull-blown ED.
I work in Edgware Urgent Treatment Centre, which shares reception,
hardware, software and Triage with the Edgware Walk-In Centre housed
on the same premises.
We are basically using Knightowl GP software and running it on
Windows 95 computers. The Walk-In Centre effectively work without
paper, though print hard copies for the purposes of Child Protection.
We are seeing about 100 patients per day.
The computer crashed at around 4pm today, when the waiting room was
packed. We had no record of who had been booked in, who had been seen
by our Triage nurse and how long any of the patients (or 'clients'
for the Walk-In Centre) had been waiting.
There are no clear sight lines from the waiting to the treatment area.
If we had had a system where a hard copy had been printed for every
patient registration, the afternoon would not have been nearly so
chaotic; patients could have been seen according to their priority
and otherwise sequentially. At the time of the computer crash, the
receptionist could have then booked in patients manually without
losing several patients unseen in the system.
The software engineer had still not fixed the system when I left work
after 10pm and proposed to stay the night to finish the job.
The result was inconvenient for our patients who mostly have minor
injuries and illnesses; I fear it could have been dangerous for those
with more serious problems.
I know of no computer system that is immune to failure; sod's law
dictates that a 'crash' can occur at the most critical time. I fear
for the consequences of failure in a large department.
--
Helen D. Vecht: [log in to unmask]
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