Miles of files in health records move

A project to deliver a new health records library for the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Trust has been completed ahead of time, under budget, and without affecting the 24 hour service it provides.

The trust's health records centre has moved from the Norwich Community Hospital site to new and improved premises on the Bowthorpe industrial site in a £1.5 million project.

A total of 800,000 patient records were moved to the new 4,200 square metre Francis Centre without a hitch, alongside 470,000 A&E records, 320,000 archive x-rays and more than 1,000 archive records.

Key facts

– The new health records library has 26 miles of steel shelving
– If laid out in a straight line, the live case notes would stretch for 6.8 miles
– If laid out in a straight line the archive records would stretch for 3.2 miles

The new library serves the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Cromer and District Hospital and many primary care clinics. All patient notes are bar-coded and tracked electronically.

By law, all maternity records have to be kept for 25 years and other health records must be kept for an average of eight years before they can be destroyed.

Director of resources Anna Dugdale said: “This new facility for our health records service is a major step forward and it is a tremendous achievement on the part of the project team and the staff concerned. Not only was the project completed ahead of time and under-budget but there was, importantly, no disruption to the important service they provide for our staff and patients.”