A new electronic records system donated by IMS MAXIMS is helping a charity with its highly valued work to support people with cancer and their families. CancerCare, which serves North Lancashire and South Lakeland, is a vital source of advice and information - also providing complementary therapies to improve people's quality of life at a time of stress and worry.
The organisation needed a modern IT system so vital administration could be handled quickly and easily, helping to ensure that clients receive the best possible service. Following a commercial procurement process IMS MAXIMS was selected as the preferred bidder - but then decided to provide the entire solution as a donation.
Shane Tickell, IMS MAXIMS CEO, said: "This is a flagship charity doing remarkable work that should be a model for the entire country. To be able to provide it with a state-of-the-art system demonstrates our value and commitment to supporting hard working organisations such as CancerCare. The new platform we are delivering will help with everything from day-to-day administration to the smooth running of clinics."
CancerCare was established in 1983 by a small group of volunteers from the caring professions and now supports more than 1,500 people a year. These included Mr Tickell's own family who greatly appreciated its support after his father was diagnosed with cancer during the mid 1990's. Like many others, they were impressed by the way the charity embraces not just the patient, but their loved ones and carers.
The charity has two main centres in Lancaster and Kendal and offers everything from therapeutic massage and aromatherapy, through to friendship groups and bereavement support. The organisation works in close partnership with the local NHS.
Lynne Stafford, CancerCare Chief Executive, said: "It's essential that a charity like ours can deliver services with efficiency and effectiveness. The IMS MAXIMS solution will help us do exactly that, bringing our administration right up to date with a top-class modern system of exactly the kind we needed. It's allowing us to replace paper-based records with electronic ones that are fast, accurate and easy to use, allowing our staff to instantly access the information they need, when they need it."
The initial phase of the MAXIMS electronic record system implementation is now complete. A second phase, involving its roll out to all users across the organisation, will take place over the summer.
About Cancer Care
CancerCare is dedicated to the support of people with cancer, their families and their carers, and those bereaved by cancer. Our services are available to anyone in North Lancashire and South Lakeland, and have been developed in response to the expressed needs of those whose lives are affected by cancer.
About IMS MAXIMS
IMS MAXIMS is an electronic patient record provider working towards better, safer patient care. Specialists in developing clinical and administrative software solutions, IMS MAXIMS currently supports more than 150 organisations, 1.9 million patient records in Ireland and 8 million patient records in the UK, as well as 10,000 users of IMS MAXIMS products.
MAXIMS is at the heart of the clinical and administrative life of everything from large UK and Irish hospitals, to small specialist independent clinics. It gives patient data to clinicians in exactly the format they need, and allows it to be shared with colleagues and updated in real-time. MAXIMS suits any clinical specialism and is excellent for order communications and reporting. Medical and administrative records can be kept fully up to date, with the minimum of effort. MAXIMS is web-based so there is no need to install software on computers or invest in expensive extra hardware.