Lorenzo went live across the majority of the trust's wards and departments in June 2010 and in the Emergency Department at FGH in June 2012. The module that has been designed for the emergency care environment offers some very specific benefits for staff and patients. These include:

• Electronic patient records give staff up-to-date information wherever and whenever it is needed
• Patient information will be more secure and confidential. Staff can only see a patient's information if it is relevant to their job
• Patient electronic patient records will be instantly accessible across all of the Trust's hospitals, meaning staff will have all the details they need about the patient at hand, including any relevant medical history and all test results
• The Trust will be able to offer a safer service, carry out fewer duplicate investigations and reduce the number of avoidable admissions to hospital
• Patients can be confident that staff can see what they need to know to give them the best possible care
• Quicker discharge from hospital
• GPs will get a more detailed discharge summary of the care received whilst in hospital
• More personal care. Doctors and nurses will have a more complete picture of a patient's health, therefore be able to provide the most relevant care.

Sir David Henshaw, chair, said: "Making sure our doctors and nurses have the most up to date and relevant information on hand when they treat a patient is crucial to ensure we offer the best possible care to our local communities. Lorenzo enables the sharing of this information across our hospitals meaning that patient care becomes more personal and safer - both of which are paramount priorities for us."

Lorenzo replaced iPM at RLI's Emergency Department in the early hours of Tuesday 6 November as this was when there will be the least amount of patients in the department. The roll-out was planned not only to ensure minimum disruption to patient care, but also to make the changeover as easy as possible for our staff.

There was a technical team on hand 24/7 to make the transition as smooth as possible and help staff with any issues they may have. Additional staff are also on duty to ensure minimum impact on the service to patients.

So what do staff who are using the system think of it?
"After a degree of understandable apprehension accompanying any significant change, Lorenzo EC has successfully gone live in the RLI ED. Launch control has worked according to plan thanks to good preparatory training, readily available support from friendly IT staff and a combination of enthusiasm and determination from all members of the ED team to maximise the benefits to patient care offered by the new system. The main factor underlying the smooth change to Lorenzo is the clear direct benefit to patients. Data quality is the bedrock underpinning the safe delivery of high quality care.

"The RLI ED staff rapidly recognised that this is where Lorenzo really delivers. Perhaps the best indicator of staff engagement is the fact that team members are already asking when we can go paper free. I must take the opportunity to say thanks to all those who have worked so hard to make this a success. Our IT colleagues are very welcome honorary members of the RLI ED team." 
Dr Jeremy Harrison, emergency care clinician, RLI

"Despite a particularly busy week last week the implementation of Lorenzo has gone well. The ED Team have worked hard to support the introduction of Lorenzo and there is a general sense of positivity and enthusiasm. I would like to take this opportunity to thank FGH ED colleagues for their part in rolling Lorenzo out - their part in supporting the introduction of Lorenzo has undoubtedly been a significant contributor to the successful introduction here. I would also like to thank IT colleagues for their excellent support." 
Graeme Nicholson, emergency care matron, RLI

"Lorenzo will deliver some real benefits for patients and staff. To start with however, patients may experience a slight delay at the reception desk. We learnt a lot from the implementation of the system across the rest of the hospitals and have put more support on hand for staff to ensure that any delay to patients is as short as it possibly can be. I would like to thank the public and our staff for their patience and cooperation. The switch over was carried out at FGH first as it has a lower volume of patient activity. It also enabled the team to fully support each department rather than split resources over two sites at the same time." Jackie Daniel, chief executive

"We have been working hard with our doctors, nurses and support staff to make sure that Lorenzo works the way we want it to and the implementation of the system in the Emergency Departments will help us offer a better service to our patients. 

"With the launch of any new computer system, you expect to encounter teething problems that only appear after go-live. We have a team of people on site who are appropriately equipped and experienced to both identify and fix any that may appear. I am confident in Lorenzo and also in my team who are working around the clock to implement it." Steve Fairclough, head of health informatics

CSC, the company that develops Lorenzo, said: "The roll out at RLI has been very smooth and reflects well on the thorough planning by the combined UHMB and CSC team at the trust. This follows the successful first use of Lorenzo's Emergency Care module in the Emergency Department at FGH back in June, and now extends the Lorenzo platform and the benefits it offers to patients and clinicians to these key departments of the trust. Congratulations to all who participated in these two achievements."

Related news articles:

• CSC's Profile