CONFIDENTIAL details about our personal health will soon be available to medics at the touch of a button.

New electronic patient records are being introduced at Halton and Warrington hospitals as part of a multi-million pound investment.

An innovative system called Lorenzo is set to revolutionise patient care and make treatment and diagnosis more efficient.

Dr Simon Constable, medical director at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “At the moment, our efficiency can be hindered by some of the IT systems.

“Patients’ records are mainly paper based and can be located across numerous places in hospitals or community health services.

“This is because of the different illnesses a patient has or the care they need.

“This often means the complete picture of a patient’s health and care is not available to a clinician at the time they see the patient.”

Collating patients' details onto one system, he said, will enable clinicians to see each person's entire health history anytime at the click of a button.

Lorenzo is a national system already live in 13 NHS organisations.

NHS trusts can bid for Department of Health funding for software and deployment costs if they can provide a robust business case.

After a process of clinical and financial evaluation, Halton and Warrington hospitals’ bid has been approved.

Implementation work has now started with CSC, the company that provides Lorenzo.

The first phase of the system is due to go live at the end of 2015.

Mel Pickup, chief executive at Warrington and Halton Hospitals, said: “In their personal and home lives, our staff are now used to using some of the most up to date technology around like smart phones, mobile tablet devices and the like as a matter of routine.

“Yet when they come into work our IT systems are often aged, clunky and increasingly not fit for purpose to help us deliver 21st century health care services.

“This new system will bring us bang up to date and staff and patients will benefit enormously from technology and information being much closer to the bedside or to outpatient consultations.”

Philippe Houssiau, CSC’s UK vice president of healthcare, said: “We are honoured to be working with Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust enabling technology which will provide the foundation for integrating care across the organisation, allowing clinicians to access the right information, at the right time wherever it is required.

“We look forward to a long-term partnership engaging with the trust and its staff to help them dramatically transform the way they deliver care.”