NHS Trust improves patient and staff experience with innovative use of eForms

As one of the largest orthopaedic units in Europe, The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (ROH) offers a wide range of specialist services delivered at an excellent standard. As part of its commitment to patient care and staff wellbeing, it introduced a wide range of eForms to streamline a number of its administration processes internally.

The challenge

As part of its own initiative to drive digital transformation, ROH identified a range of internal processes that could benefit from the application of eForm technology. Including paper-based, COVID-19 response and patient relationship focussed processes, the Trust aspired to uplift staff and patient experiences with a digital-first approach.

The solution

Implementing NDL Digitise, ROH was able to digitise a number of previously laborious processes. As part of a wider initiative, here’s how the Trust revolutionised its lateral flow results reporting process, #hellomynameis badge ordering, Additional Duty Hours and theatre requests with web-based forms.

Lateral flow eForm

At the height of the pandemic, ROH introduced a user-friendly lateral flow COVID-19 test reporting eForm for its members of staff. To prioritise convenience, the eForm system is integrated directly with the Trust’s Electronic Staff Record (ESR) – allowing users to automatically populate their details by submitting their unique identifiers.

Providing an efficient way to ensure its frontline workers can submit test results in real time, the eForm system has already processed over 13,700 transactions since its introduction in November 2020. With a turnaround of just five days, this front-end interface has allowed the Trust to respond and manage COVID-19 within its workforce quickly and effectively.

#hellomynameis badge order eForm

Launched by the late Dr Kate Granger MBE - a Consultant Geriatrician who was diagnosed with cancer in 2011 – the #hellomynameis campaign was launched to improve visibility and relationships between clinicians and patients. As part of ROH’s value of compassion, its Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) launched its support campaign in 2021.

Despite a tight deadline, the Trust was able to create an eForm system that allowed staff to easily order #hellomynameis badges. Taking only a couple of minutes to complete, the eForm allows the PALS team to effectively manage badge orders and monitor requests with minimal administrative requirements. In just a few months, the eForm system has already processed over 260 transactions with great feedback from staff and patients.

Additional Duty Hours (ADH) eForm

Involving ROH’s clinicians, Clinical Service and Finance teams, the ADH request procedure was originally a time-consuming, paper-based process. In order to reduce administrative demand, the Trust created a new, digital system – including an ADH booking eForm, and an ADH claim eForm. Integrated with its ESR, the form automatically populates clinicians’ details and booking information using their unique identifiers.

Seamlessly integrated with existing systems and infrastructure, the eForms now allow for a fully digital end-to-end ADH process. Completed online, automatically generated PDFs are saved to the relevant specialist document libraries and emailed to respective Clinical Service Managers or Leads. Clinicians are then updated on the approval or rejection status of their ADH requests in real-time.

Theatre request eForm

In order to streamline surgeon requests for additional theatre operating time, ROH replaced its previously paper-based system with an easy-to-use eForm. Simple to complete and effective in data capture, the eForm allows for better organisation of surgeries and real time updates.

Used in conjunction with NDL’s queuing and orchestration platform, information inputted into the eForm system is automatically sent to the Theatres team – who can view this data live on a webpage, or offline through downloadable excel files.

The benefits

Embracing modern front-end interfaces and a digital-first approach, ROH has been able to revolutionise a vast range of administrative processes with significant results. Its experience with NDL’s eForm platform has allowed the Trust to apply replicable processes and knowledge across a number of teams and departments, keeping patient and staff experiences at the forefront of its services. Key benefits to these implementations include:

• Increased clinical & patient focussed time
• Significantly reduced administrative overheads
• Better patient & clinician relationships
• Removed paper & printing costs, alongside reduced carbon footprint
• Improved audit trail
• Enhanced data accuracy with eForm field formatting

What’s next?

Since adopting the NDL platform and launching its first eForm in November 2020, the Trust has received 30 requests for new eForm projects across various departments. In just 10 months, ROH has now launched a total 27 eForms across the organisation using a Trust-wide license. As part of its continued paper-free efforts, the Trust plans to launch eForms within its Oncology and Physiotherapy departments for its next projects.

For more digital-first public sector inspiration, don’t forget to visit our Success Stories page – or register for one of our upcoming events to hear about more key learnings and innovative use cases. To discuss how your organisation could benefit from NDL’s eForm platform, don’t hesitate to get in touch.