Hugh Symons Gains ISO 14001 Environmental Accreditation
	The ISO 14000 is a standard for environmental management systems that is applicable to any business. The aim of the standard is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste a business produces.
Hugh Symons has been committed to these principles for many years and has been awarded accreditation to the standard. Chris Booth Managing Director comments on the award: "Over a period of time we have reviewed very carefully the way in which our company operates with regard to its impact on the environment. We have had the backing of all our employees with a view to this goal. It is down to them, collectively and individually that we have realigned certain areas of the business to be successful in achieving this internationally recognized accreditation."

Hugh Symons' MD to Run Marathon for Great Ormond Street Hospital
Chris Booth, Managing Director of Hugh Symons Information Management has been lucky enough to have obtained a place to run the London Marathon on 25th April.  Chris has worked with Great Ormond Street Hospital on a business basis for several years and has been greatly impressed by the work that the dedicated professionals there do to assist the many thousands of children and their families in times of illness. It is for this reason that Chris has decided to run the London Marathon in aid of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity (registration number 235825). If you would like to sponsor Chris in the run (which he hopes to complete in under 3.5 hours), please contact chris.booth@hughsymons.com
If you would like further information on the Great Ormond Street Hospital Charity click here: http://www.gosh.org/

Hugh Symons Wins Luton Borough Council Contract

In the Autumn of 2009 Luton BC issued a tender for the scanning of their Development Control and Building Control records. Luton BC had historically microfilmed their files and it was the microfilm conversion that formed the majority of the scanning contract.

With over 80,000 microfiche and ½ a million hard copy documents, covering 15 different datasets, the tendering process involved test scanning of all the data types to ensure that the images and metadata met with the Council’s stringent standards.  Following these rigorous tests, and having met the pricing criteria, HSIM was awarded the contract in December 2009. It is anticipated that the contract will be completed well within the timescales in the third quarter of 2010.

Dorset County Hospital Raise Further Order for Medical Records Scanning

Dorset County Hospital have instructed Hugh Symons to scan a further 2 years worth of medical records, the equivalent of approximately 1000 archive boxes. Although Hugh Symons has provided document scanning services to the Trust for many years, in recent times the records have been retained in storage due to other considerations. However, Dorset County Hospital (DCH)  have now decided the patient, medical personnel and finances of the Trust will be better served by the electronic conversion of the records. This will allow faster access to information and free up storage space required for other projects.

HSIM has recently been awarded the contract to scan patient notes for  a number of GP Practices within Hastings and Rother PCT.

The PCT is currently developing the new Primary Care Centre at Station Plaza in Hastings, which will house 5 GP practices as well as other healthcare facilities.  The new premises are due for completion by the Spring of 2010 and it is proposed that all patient notes will be scanned prior to this to facilitate a paperless environment.

For more information on scanning of GP and PCT files contact us: Info.man@hughsymons.com

Via a long standing relationship with business partners IDOX, a contract was awarded in April 2009 for the scanning of 50,000 planning applications. Hugh Symons will work closely with both IDOX and Cardiff Council to ensure project timeframes are optimized in terms of both the scanning service and software deployment.

Following an extensive tendering process Cardiff & Vale NHS Trust awarded a 2 year contract for the scanning of medical records to Hugh Symons NHS Document Scanning Services. Medical Records will be boxed and collected for scanning on a weekly basis from 3 hospital sites, with approximately 100,000 records being digitised per annum.

Occupational Health Project for 2Gether NHS Foundation Trust

Hugh Symons NHS Document Scanning Services was awarded the back scanning contract for the Occupational Health department of 2Gether NHS Foundation Trust in February 2009. The project involved the scanning of 50,000 records within a 3 month period to enable the Occupational Health Department redevelop into an open plan office.

All records were scanned in a format for loading directly into the Trust’s OPAS system which now provides Occupational Health staff with faster and more efficient access to vital information when required. Hugh Symons also provided a copy of all returned data in a format for viewing within CDView software as a secure backup to the main system.

Through consultation with the client Hugh Symons was able to advise on a bar coding system to automate index capture thereby significantly reducing overall project costs. This system also allowed the Trust the opportunity to validate and audit all files being prepared for the scanning process.

Hugh Symons Information Management (HSIM) has provided document scanning services to the current South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SLaM) since 2005, with the re-award of the contract in Jan 2008 after a second tender was issued.  

As the NHS Mental Health Trust providing the largest portfolio of services in the country, SLaM has aimed to continue to pursue its official rating as “Excellent” in all areas, which includes the secure retention of medical notes. With this goal in mind, SLaM has recently allocated additional budget to be spent on scanning of patient records in the next phase of the conversion project.  Although the bulk of the documents scanned by the Trust are medical notes, other departments have also realised the benefits of HSIM’s secure service and are already scanning their information, with further departments due to commence in 2009.

Bolsover Council Appoint HSIM to Scan Planning Files

The District of Bolsover is located in the North East part of the County of Derbyshire and has a population of approximately 72,000. The administrative centre is the market town of Bolsover. Not many years ago coal mining was the major industry throughout the district but all the collieries are now gone and the retail and service industries are the major employers.

Following the decision to purchase a Civica DMS system, the Council issued a tender for the back-scanning of 25,000 Planning Files in December 2007.

HISM was able to comply with the stringent quality and upload requirements of the project and also represented best value for money as a result which the contract was awarded to HSIM in January this year and scanning will commence at the end of February 2008.