Hospital services may be slightly delayed as a landmark electronic medical record system goes live at the Bermuda Hospitals Board tomorrow.

The Pearl system, for Patient Electronic and Administrative Records Log, will take a couple of weeks for staff to get up to speed, according to the BHB’s chief executive and president, Michael Richmond.

Elective procedures such as non-urgent surgeries and outpatient appointments will continue, but at 50 per cent of normal in the first week and 75 per cent in the second.

Emergency services will be open, but patients with minor conditions may experience longer waits.

The BHB advised the public to see their GP if they have minor issues, or need help managing their chronic illnesses.

Elective services are expected to go back to normal after November 11.

The system, which boosts efficiency, strikes out the need for paper records and brings immediate access to information for caregivers, has been in development since April 2021, with training given to more than 1,400 staff.

Mr Richmond said the BHB would focus on maintaining services “throughout the go-live”.

He added that the use of Pearl would “quickly become more sure and faster each day”.

Services will continue, but Mr Richmond said it would “initially take staff a bit longer to complete tasks as they put their training into practice”.

Pearl will be in use across the BHB, at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, Lamb Foggo Urgent Care Centre and all BHB group homes.

Employees from the US medical IT company Cerner will work with BHB staff trained in the system across departments in the first two weeks after the system goes live.

A “multilevel command centre structure” is in place for the first two weeks to tackle issues that cannot be resolved at the department level.

Wesley Miller, the chief of staff, said: “I am very proud to work with our staff as we prepare for this implementation.

“Pearl is going to transform what is possible in delivering the very best in safe, quality care across BHB.

“A system implementation of this size and complexity isn’t easy, but the reward of working through it will be in the enhanced ability to improve patient care and outcomes, which is at the heart of all we do.”

Keltie Jamieson, the chief hospital information officer, added: “Our focus over the next few weeks is on maintaining safe services as staff adjust.

“There will be a lot of on-the-ground support in departments as well as escalation processes for issues as our hardworking staff get used to something new.

“Patients and visitors in the first two weeks will see additional people in bright T-shirts who are the in-department support.

“We have done all we can to test and test Pearl again, but issues are normal in any major system implementation.

“The key is having robust structures to escalate and resolve them, which we have.“