NHS health boards across Scotland will now be able to acquire workflow management software WinScribe ‘virtually free’, thanks to the purchase of a national licence.

The purchase of the national licence means that the software is available to health boards in Scotland at a vastly reduced rate.
The software will be available through the national licence not only to hospitals, but also to community services such as health centres and GP practices. Purchasing WinScribe software is now much easier, and it will help NHS organisations in Scotland to save time and become more efficient.

You can get a hold of WinScribe by contacting Voice Technologies, the nationally contracted dictation solutions supplier to the NHS in Scotland, on 0141 847 5610.

Voice Technologies has appointed a new Chairman who has vast experience in both the legal and health sectors.

Solicitor Alan MacDonald is currently non-executive director of the Mental Health Tribunal Scotland Administration and chair of its audit committee, and he was formerly vice-chairman of Scottish Enterprise Renfrewshire and chair of its audit committee.

“I have been offered a number of positions previously,” Alan said. “But what appeals to me about joining Voice Technologies is the company’s professionalism and strategic vision.”

Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary is saying goodbye to tapes and hello to the many benefits of digital dictation with help from Voice Technologies.

The hospital is the first in NHS Dumfries and Galloway to receive hardware such as digital dictation devices and WinScribe software to help reduce waiting times. Full roll out is expected to be complete by the start of next year. Galloway Community Hospital, and peripheral sites such as health centres, will also receive the technology in a later phase of the roll out.

“We expect the technology to speed up waiting times by making the process of dictation much smoother,” said Carolyn Malcolm of NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Staff in the Histopathology Laboratories at Wishaw General and Monklands Hospitals in Lanarkshire are reaping the benefits of a new digital dictation system from Voice Technologies.

Despite all the efforts of the secretarial staff using the old system, workflow and prioritisation were difficult to manage with increasing workloads and new target turnarounds for patients’ treatment.

Yet within a month of the new system’s installation, turnaround times had greatly improved and staff pressures were alleviated.

Elaine Gilmour, PA to the Clinical Director of Laboratories, said: “Our secretaries love the new system. They’re delighted that they can spend their time more productively, rather than trawling through the old fashioned analogue tapes.”

NHS Lanarkshire is no stranger to WinScribe. The Radiology departments across three sites have been using the system installed by Voice Technologies since 2001.