DOCTORS and nurses are using new technology on the wards at Musgrove Park Hospital, Taunton, so they can update patient information on the go.

NHS staff are using iPads and iPods to record the latest patient details on electronic whiteboards, transfer patients to other areas of the hospital and discharge patients.

A total of ten of the 25 wards as using the software.

Tom Edwards, consultant surgeon and chief clinical information officer at Musgrove, said: "Fast access to information about patients is absolutely crucial for our doctors, nurses and other clinical staff. Safe and effective digital systems are vital.

“Safety alerts will be immensely useful, but it is important to remember that, whatever technology we use, it will still be our highly trained and expert staff who are making decisions about diagnosis, treatment and patient care."

Musgrove was named a Global Digital Exemplar for the NHS in 2016 and received £10 million Government funding to make rapid progress in transforming its use of digital technology.

The three-year programme, which involves building software with clinicians and rigorous testing and safety checks, is coming to an end and patients will start to see changes in the hospital.

A recent patient, Mark Vearncombe, said: "I think it’s the way forward. I know in my own job we use iPads, which stops a lot of paperwork.

"It means no one is searching for documents and information is all contained in one place, which I imagine helps the staff.

“When the nurses are using iPods they let me know what they are doing and I feel confident they are following procedures and I know that nothing is being missed."

In the coming months the process of prescribing medicines will also be digitised.

Using portable 'computers-on-wheels’ or laptops, medicines will be prescribed, administered and reviewed using an electronic drug chart instead of paper notes.

The system will make it make care even safer by recording what medicine has been given and when and alerting doctors to any allergies a patient may have.

Another new advancement coming to the hospital is an app for patients referred for weight management treatment.

The app aims to reduce patient waiting time by directing to the right health professional in the right order and provides a link between patient and clinician to track their progress and manage their care remotely.

A second app focuses on patients attending Musgrove for surgery. Using an iPad, patients fill in a pre-operative checklist which updates their clinical information and means nurses can assess if they need any further checks before they are deemed fit for surgery. Once trialled, it could be completed at home and avoid a trip to hospital.

The hospital is also making outpatient departments digital to start recording patient information electronically so that all their information is in one place and can be accessed quickly.