A NORTH-EAST mental health trust has been awarded £880,000 to invest in IT technology for staff.

It will involve equipping 500 nurses with the latest in wi-fi enabled laptops.

The funding for the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust comes from the national Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards scheme and the Nursing Technology.

It will be used in three main ways:

  • To ensure dictation is done using digitally, improving security, staff productivity and communication with patients and GPs. It will also reduce printing costs and improve the quality of record keeping.
  • To enable electronic transfer of information such as e-discharge letters and GP correspondence, to allow family doctors’ computer systems to integrate with the mental health trust’s systems.
  • To equip nursing staff with wi-fi enabled laptops so they can securely access trust systems. This should mean clinical records will be more quickly updated.

Chris Stanbury, director of nursing at TEWV, said: “We are delighted that our bids for funding have been successful and these important technology projects can move forward.”