It is very important our 724 carts are kept in top working order in case EPR has issues and we temporarily need to go back to paper.

Ward clerk, Kim Bahadori from Ward 12 at HRI, gives her cart - called Jenny - a daily healthcheck making sure she’s plugged in, fully charged and ready to go. She also has fully made-up EPR downtime paper packs ready to go if ever needed.

Kim, said: “At ward meetings and team briefs we make sure everyone working on the ward knows the cart is there, what it is for and what to do if we ever needed to use it.

“It’s also important we try not to break into the downtime paper packs, as they need to be ready-to-go at any moment”.

Chief Nurse Information Officer, Carol Gregson, said “I’m hugely impressed by the work Kim has done on ward 12.  It will pay off as next month we’ll be having to update the drug catalogue in EPR, which means there will be some downtime and there will be lots more communications to follow on this.

“She has made sure colleagues know what the cart is used for, and everyone knows where to find the paper downtime packs. I’m sure there are plenty more areas of good practice out there which we’d love to hear about”.

Keeping your packs up-to-date

  • Make sure you have enough fully prepared packs to cover each bed, with a few extra packs just in case
  • Wards can collect the paper documentation for the packs from HRI: Lower Ground Floor, Old Medical Records

 *Each ward has its own 724 cart, and neighbouring wards have what is known as a “sister cart” with backed -up EPR information if it is ever needed.

Additionally each patient flow office has a master cart holding all the information across the whole of CHFT.