The Whole Hospital Information System (WHIS) was introduced to Camp Bastion on 01 Feb 2012. It is a custom-built software solution for electronic patient records. A one-day training package is mandatory as part of current pre-deployment training

The aim of this study was to identify how well the data recorded on WHIS correlates with the information recorded within the paper-based theatre logbook.

A bespoke search was created by the Hospital J6 team, which identified the procedure, the surgeons involved, the date and time of the procedures and the demographic of the patient. The search was completed to include all operations performed from 01 Feb 2012 to 31 Mar 2013. This corresponds to the first 14 months of WHIS usage.

The results at first looked promising, showing that 2672 surgical episodes had been performed, with an average 1.68 (0–11) procedures per episode, and 2.1 (0–9) surgeons per case. The mean operative duration was 98 minutes. However on closer scrutiny, the records showed that 447 cases (16.7%) had no procedure and 138 (5.2%) cases had no surgeon. 29 (1.1%) cases had no procedure and no surgeon recorded.

The data recorded on WHIS during the study period is not currently complete enough to discontinue usage of paper records.