Healthcode, the digital technology specialists for private healthcare have nominated their first Clinical Safety Officer (CSO) to oversee clinical risk management of their products, including their brand-new Prescribing solution.
An experienced CSO, Dr Patrick Lester PhD has the clinical and technical expertise required to ensure the safe design and deployment of Healthcode’s IT solutions, in line with the NHS’s DCB0129 standard for clinical risk management. His responsibilities will include clinical risk management planning, reviewing safety documentation and evidence and recommending whether systems are safe and robust.
The NHS requires all healthcare IT providers it works with to comply with DCB0129 standard and Healthcode have engaged ETHOS Ltd a leading provider of digital health patient safety compliance and assurance services to achieve this. Dr Lester is Head of Clinical Safety at ETHOS and has a wealth of experience in healthcare IT and patient safety, alongside a clinical background in radiography. He was awarded a PhD in Bioinformatics in 2004 and qualified as Clinical Safety Officer in 2007.
Healthcode are well known as leading providers of advanced solutions that help private healthcare providers to automate time-consuming admin tasks like invoicing and securely connect with other organisations. However, they’ve now created a comprehensive practice management system (ePractice) that allows providers to manage back office and clinical tasks from one secure platform to streamline the patient journey, including features such as Care Pathway management and Prescribing. The Prescribing tool is already equipped with automated safety features such as smart integrations with the NHS dm+d and error detection as well as high levels of clinical accuracy from delivery partners Pharmacy2U but Healthcode want to go further by adopting national safety standards like DCB0129.
Jenny Murray, Healthcode Director of Product Strategy and Delivery commented: “We’re now using our smart tech to develop more efficient and intuitive clinical services but we won’t compromise on patient safety. Nominating someone with Patrick’s credentials and integrity to be our Clinical Safety Officer shows our commitment to meeting the highest standards in this area in the best interests of our customers and their patients. We look forward to working with him to achieve compliance with DCB0129, alongside our long-standing ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials certifications for data security.”
Dr Patrick Lester PhD added: “As Head of Clinical Safety at ETHOS I’m delighted that we’re joining Healthcode on this important journey, which will give customers the reassurance that their healthcare technology is backed by rigorous and consistent clinical safety protocols and governance. It’s wonderful to be working with a company which shares our vision for safe innovation, accountability and collaboration.”
