17 June 2025
Removal of paper-based records has enabled the NHS Trust to meet key sustainability goals and redeploy staff to clear referral backlog for the first time since Covid .
Maidstone, UK, 17 June 2025 – The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust, the UK’s only standalone specialist neurosciences Trust, has successfully digitised 95% of its patient records with Apogee Corporation, leading to significant improvements in clinical efficiency and patient safety.
Following a Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in 2019 highlighting the Trust’s mix of paper and digital case notes as a clinical risk, The Walton Centre sought to eliminate all paper-based records. A competitive tender process led to the selection of Apogee and its secure document scanning and data capture services.
With almost all patient records now scanned, digitised, tracked and seamlessly integrated into the Trust’s electronic patient record system (EPR), clinicians are able to rapidly retrieve critical up to date patient data - including medical, treatment and device histories - to improve patient outcomes and the overall experience. The implementation of a new in-house scanning facility ensures any new patient documents are available in the EPR within 48 hours of outpatient attendance and seven days of discharge from an admitted episode.
The time saved from the process has allowed medical records staff to be redeployed to other departments, contributing to enhanced operational efficiencies and a faster patient flow through the hospital. The Trust has been able to fully clear its backlog of 5,000 patients and can register new patients on arrival for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, with digital storage of records also aligning with its goal to become ‘paper light’ by 2026 and achieve digital maturity in line with the NHS Digital Strategy.
The project has served to improve staff outcomes too. The volume of paper documents was presenting space issues, with records stored in unsafe areas such as corridors and lofts. The removal of these records has freed up so much on-site space that the Trust is repurposing an area into a long-awaited communal staff room to help support employee health and wellbeing.
“Apogee have consistently demonstrated themselves to be more than just a supplier. They are an integrated extension of our team.
Due to the complexities involved with digitising a high volume of paper records, we were understandably nervous ahead of the project.
But whenever we’ve encountered hurdles, Apogee has responded with expertise, commitment and professionalism, providing valuable solutions to support our operational objectives.”Sam Holman, Head of Transformation and Corporate Operations at The Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust
The Walton Centre now has the opportunity to think about how the previously occupied estate could be used to accommodate expanding clinical services, such as thrombectomy stroke interventions. Insights from the digitisation process are also helping to inform future digital transformation initiatives and priorities, like digitising nursing workflows and intensive care unit records.
Mark McManus, Regional Sales Director, Apogee Corporation, says, “From the outset of the project, we understood how critical it was to first build trust with clinical teams and then enable benefits from an operational, compliance, patient experience and staff wellbeing perspective. We invested time in a digitisation proof of concept with real-time tracking and audit trails to ensure peace of mind. We’re proud to have played a part in supporting more efficient and effective care at The Walton Centre.”
All patient records at The Walton Centre are scanned and tracked through a secure end-to-end process, with each physical file undergoing rigorous quality assurance checks and maintaining a full audit trail. Apogee’s scanning workflows are fully compliant with BS10008 standards and all data is handled in accordance with ISO and British Standards.
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