By Healthcare Facilities Today

Bedside charts are to be replaced by computer tablets such as iPads at Oxford NHS hospitals, according to an article on the Oxford Mail website.

The plan – to be rolled out with up to 500 tablets throughout 2014 is expected to save time and improve safety.

Doctors and nurses currently use paper charts to record and assess vital signs like heart rate and blood pressure. If they need advice from a doctor, the chart has to be taken to them or consultants have to visit the ward. But under the new plan – devised with Oxford University – staff will input data that can be read at another iPad or tablet via a staff wi-fi network, the article said.

The computer program will also calculate a score based on the vital signs, a process previously done manually.

Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital, the Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and Banbury’s Horton General Hospital will get the tablets, the article said.

Read the article.