NHS trusts ranked on their clinical IT

The first national table ranking all NHS hospital trusts on their clinical IT systems has been launched by EHI Intelligence, in partnership with NHS England.

The Clinical Digital Maturity Index provides a complete picture of the clinical information systems in use at all 160 English acute trusts.

The new CDMI service, which is provided as a searchable online database and national baseline report, has been licensed by NHS England so that all NHS staff can see how their trust ranks on its use of IT and where it is on its digital journey.

Beverley Bryant, director of strategic systems and technology at NHS England said the information is freely available to NHS Trusts so they can see where they sit in relation to their peers.

“We anticipate this will be a powerful catalyst in sharing successes and best practice and in driving the digital agenda forward,” she added.

Karl Grundy, head EHI Intelligence, said the service has been developed over three years working with the NHS.

“Providing the NHS with a digital maturity model that has been rooted in the nuances of the English NHS market will enable the health service and suppliers to make better decisions about the use of IT and enable better ways of working,” he said.

King’s College Hospital, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital and Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trusts, are ranked top in the national table, which is published for the first time today.

Colin Sweeney, director of ICT at King's, said the trust regards itself as an innovative organisation and at the forefront of healthcare in the NHS.

“It is important, and indeed expected, that service departments like ICT support that aspiration. The CDMI rating provides evidence that we are living up to that expectation,” he said.

“As a result, the trust continues to invest positively in our approach and the solutions we deliver.”

The CDMI also highlights underperforming trusts, some of which have plans in place to improve their digital maturity.

George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust, ranked 155, is being helped by University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust to improve its informatics service after health secretary Jeremy Hunt announced last September that ‘elite hospitals’ would help 11 trusts that were placed in ‘special measures’ following the Keogh review.

Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, ranked 157, is also planning to sign up to a massive e-hospital programme being led by Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust with electronic patient record supplier Epic.

CDMI maps 27 different categories of clinical systems in use at acute trusts. It comprises nine levels with clinical systems placed in each level. Each system is given a score, based on a methodology that draws on a number of market factors, that give a total score for the trust.

EHI Intelligence recently completed a refresh of the rankings after trusts were given the chance to update their profiles online. Trusts can access and update their profile at any time and another rankings refresh will take place in six-months.