Virtual Ward and EPR teams shortlisted at prestigious national awards for advancing patient care using digital technology
University Hospitals of Derby and Burton are pleased to share that two teams have been shortlisted for the national HSJ Digital Awards for their innovative use of digital technology to improve quality and safety for patients.
Congratulations to the Virtual Ward Respiratory team for being shortlisted for the Driving Virtual Wards and Hospital at Home Through Digital category and to the Nervecentre EPR team for the Outstanding Achievement in EPR Implementation and Optimisation category.
The 10-year NHS plan sets out the future ambition for local health systems to move from analogue systems to digital. As population health demands rise, it is more important than ever that we are curious, creative, and open-minded to the opportunities that digital solutions can have to help us adapt and meet the growing healthcare needs of our diverse communities.
Harnessing the capabilities of technology plays a key role in our digital transformation journey to deliver better, safer, and more personalised patient care more efficiently and at better value. From using virtual reality, robotics and 3D technology, artificial intelligence or whether it is streamlining existing processes and services to digital systems, our teams are doing remarkable things to make improvements in the quality and safety of care for our patients.
Stephen Posey, Chief Executive, said, “I am pleased that two of our teams have been recognised for the positive impact their work has had on our patients and communities. Both projects have required us to think innovatively about how we can improve care, make best use of our resources, and combine best practice with cutting‑edge digital technology.
"Virtual wards play a direct role in supporting frontline patient care, while our EPR system will be central to enabling robust, personalised clinical decision‑making. A significant amount of work, time and effort has gone into building high‑quality systems that help us deliver the standards of care we strive for every day. I am proud to see both teams recognised nationally.”
Virtual ward care brings 'hospital level care' to patients recovering in their community
Virtual wards bring care closer to people's homes and communities by allowing clinical teams to monitor patients remotely using digital technology. The virtual ward care team works closely with Emergency Department, Medical Same Day Emergency Care, hospital wards and other clinical teams to help avoid hospital admissions, re-admissions, and long lengths of hospital stay for patients who can safely recover at home while remaining under close observation.
Patients attending hospital with respiratory conditions are assessed by a doctor to check they can safely recover at home or if they require hospital admission. Those that can be discharged to virtual ward care are given equipment to record their oxygen levels and submit daily readings into an app, which is monitored by a clinical team that can rapidly respond to changes in a patient's health if their results show their health is declining again. The daily care team can decide whether a community care team can visit the patient to deliver treatment while they are at home or if they need to be readmitted to hospital care.
The multi-disciplined care team offer 10 'virtual' beds for patients recovering from asthma, viral illness, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), pneumonia, and other respiratory-related conditions.
This means that hospitals can free up bed space to those that really need it while supporting patients to recover in the place they call home, closer to loved ones and a familiar environment, supporting a better patient experience.
Respiratory Consultant, Dr Deepak Subramanian and Lead Respiratory Clinical Nurse Specialist Asthma and Allergy, Salma Ali who lead the respiratory virtual ward service shared a statement on behalf of the team, "We are delighted to be shortlisted for this category, we have come a really long way since the service started and to develop it into what it is today has required a collective team effort and focus. This means a lot to the entire team, and we are really pleased our hard work is recognised at the national awards."
The first roll out of our electronic patient record (EPR) system, Nervecentre, supports has benefitted thousands of patients and colleagues
In February 2025, UHDB and Chesterfield Royal Hospital went live across six hospitals with the first module of their electronic patient record system (EPR) after 10 months in development as part of a collaborative multi-year digital transformation programme.
The first module, called the Patient Safety Bundle, saw more than 7,500 colleagues trained on using the system to enter patient observations and to escalate when patients need to be reviewed by a senior clinician. Nervecentre works best on handheld devices meaning colleagues now use mobile phones and tablets to document patient care.
The trusts saw a positive impact on patient safety immediately, including early detection and intervention of sepsis, a serious condition, with nearly 90,000 sepsis screening notes added in the first 48-hours. This screening allows clinicians to identify sepsis in patients early, meaning rapid treatment supporting a faster recovery.
The scale of the system's use and impact in the first week alone was significant, with more than 435,000 patient notes created, over 100,000 observations taken and more than 137,000 tasks raised, which supports improved patient flow through the hospitals with timely access to tests, treatment and medication.
In September 2026, Nervecentre will replace Meditech and Lorenzo across UHDB to centralise patient information onto a single digital system.
Debbie Loke, Executive Chief Digital Information Officer at UHDB, said, "The implementation of Nervecentre as our new EPR represents the largest digital change in UHDB's history, providing colleagues with instant, easy access to patient records, streamlining current processes and allowing them to spend more time focussed on patient care.
"This nomination recognises the dedication of cross-functional teams to drive forward a digital system that will make a real difference to patients in our communities across Derbyshire and East Staffordshire for years to come. This has been a hugely rewarding undertaking and would like to thank all teams involved in its delivery and wish all teams good luck in the awards."
You can see the full shortlist for this year's awards on the HSJ Digital Awards website >. The ceremony is set to take place on Tuesday 19 May 2026 so join us in wishing our teams good luck!