MERIT shortlisted for innovation award

The MERIT partnership’s Electronic Health Record Viewer has been shortlisted for a Meridian Celebration of Innovation award in the prestigious awards scheme organised by the West Midlands Academic Health Science Network. The Electronic Health Record Viewer allows authorised clinicians to view details of the clinical history of patients whose care is more normally provided by another trust in the partnership.

The other shortlisted nominees for the Mental Health Innovation Award are:

Dignio Grasp (submitted by Dignio Ltd), a squeezable, hand held device which a patient can use to register the strength, frequency and duration of panic or anxiety attacks.
Raising Awareness: Challenging Stigma (submitted by Coventry University), a Mental Health First Aid programme delivered to students at its Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, to enhance resilience and emotional wellbeing and improve recognition of mental health concerns.

The award, one of six in different categories, will be presented at a ceremony in Birmingham on Friday 13 July, as part of a wider celebration of innovative practice in the health sector. You can find out more about the Medilink Awards by visiting their website.

The MERIT programme team has given almost 20 presentations to teams in the partner trusts, demonstrating the Electronic Health Record Viewer. The earliest presentations have been given to those teams which clinical directors determined are perhaps more likely to come into contact with patients from other areas, such as those working in crisis resolution and acute liaison.

The MERIT Vanguard programme is an innovative and vibrant partnership of mental health organisations in the West Midlands, including Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, which have come together to develop new ways of working to improve the way mental health services are provided for the future.