East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, who provide maternity care across Blackburn, Burnley, Accrington, Clitheroe, Darwen, Rossendale, the Ribble Valley and Pendle, will be rolling out a new digital system for parents-to-be to register their pregnancy and access their care notes, from November 2021.
The new system is called BadgerNet and is provided by a company called Clevermed LTD. BadgerNet is a full electronic patient record, which supports clinical and administrative management of the woman’s whole maternity journey. This will replace the current paper-based records.
As of the 9 November 2021 the way that women access and book into the maternity service will change. Expectant parents will be able to self-refer directly into the service, via an online booking form, where they will fill in their details, be assigned to a midwife and an appointment will be generated. This will remove the need for women to get an appointment with her GP before being referred through to the service, and ensure that she is seen by a midwife as soon as possible. Women who do not have digital access, will be able to telephone the service to self-refer for their pregnancy care.
On the 9 November, as part of the BadgerNet rollout, the service will also launch ‘Badger Notes’. Badger Notes is an online portal and app. Badger Notes will replace the traditional women’s hand held paper record and allows the parents to have real-time access to their maternity care record, which is populated with the information from the hospital maternity records. It is a secure system requiring a log-in, which allows parents-to-be to see updates to their notes in real-time, as well adding their own information such as birthing plans or preferences and feedback. The portal is connected to the ‘BadgerNet’ system which will be used by maternity staff to record notes following appointments and consultations.
Records can be easily updated at each maternity visit or appointment and midwives do not have to double enter data onto paper handheld notes, allowing them more time to focus on delivering the best care.
From December 2021 onwards, those women that are currently receiving maternity care from the Trust, using traditional paper notes, will be transferred on to the BadgerNet system when they birth their baby. They will be given access to Badger Notes at that point, giving them access to their digital maternity record and that of their baby. By June 2022, all expectant parents should be using the ‘Badger Notes’ app and portal.
“We’re delighted to be rolling-out this new portal from November and empowering the families we care for by giving them easy access to their notes”, said Caroline Cowman, Deputy Head of Midwifery at the Trust.
“The app is easy to use and so we expect that most parents-to-be will enjoy the benefits almost straightaway. We feel that this portal allows us to enhance our person-centered approach, putting families at the heart of their maternity care throughout the pregnancy and post-natal journey.
“We’re committed to continually making improvements to our services to benefit the families we care for, and the staff caring for them. The new BadgerNet system, and the Badger Notes portal, is a fantastic example of that.”
More details, including the new link to register a pregnancy, are available at www.elht.nhs.uk/badgernet.