UHBristol’s Digital Vision. It is easy to overlook the fundamental fact that Healthcare is an information-driven activity. The better we manage our information, the better we can manage our patients and what we do with them. Good information management has the power to streamline our processes, reduce attendances, cut down lengths of stay, increase patient safety, and to improve patient outcomes—all fundamental benefits. But information must be easy to record and practical to share. It must not introduce yet another new burden onto an already stretched workforce. It has to become part of our organisation’s DNA, embedded culturally and practically in everything we do, used because it helps clinicians to do their jobs, because it helps to deliver better patient care, and because this is a big part of how we practice medicine at UHBristol. This is our challenge and our vision. ‘Doing GDE’ will enable us to roll out a network of practical, innovative solutions that will integrate comfortably into the workflow and practices of our hospitals. We will make these systems easy to use by developing the infrastructure to support them, by ensuring that they are available on mobile devices at the point of care, by making sure they are fully interoperable, and by working to create seamless processes of care with information sharing at their core. We will put information directly into the hands of the people who deliver care – the doctors, nurses and other care professional. We will give them the tools they need to do their job, saving them from the need to chase results, xxxx for notes or wait for responses from a pager. We will put information to use for patients. We are all information users now; we have seen the power of Amazon and Uber, we shop, bank, and book travel online. UHBristol will be in the vanguard of healthcare trusts bringing this revolution to patient care, engaging and empowering patients in their treatments and care. Good information systems come at a cost, but the benefits they deliver will substantially outweigh those costs. But we will not be complacent about this. We will measure and assess benefits. We will establish a baseline of costs and activities and set targets for improving performance and releasing resource for other patient care projects. We do not underestimate the effort and commitment that will be needed to deliver GDE at UHBristol. Some projects are already in progress, but most will be new. We will plan carefully and pragmatically. We will not set unrealistic ...
