A near £1 million technology boost will see Mid Wales NHS nurses armed with “smartphones” which they can use to update medical records on the go.

It is hoped the £821,000 Assembly Government cash for the IT pilot project will reduce the administrative burden on staff in Powys.

Powys Local Health Board, which has received the grant, manages three community healthcare teams in the county as well as 15 district nurses and a specialist chronic disease nursing team.

Last year, a project began to give smartphones to all district nurses, enabling them to record, store and retrieve patient information.

In August 2008, this was expanded for staff administering childhood immunisations – reducing the time needed to immunise a child from 15 minutes to five minutes with swift access to data.

Now Health Minister Edwina Hart has approved £821,000 Assembly Government funding to improve intermediate, community and primary care patient services by providing the smartphones to all community healthcare professionals.

It will enable information to be captured, stored and accessed by health visitors, district nurses, specialist nurses and midwives and, in time, other services.

In addition, the funding will be used to buy laptops and electronic notebooks.

Mrs Hart said: “The rural nature of Powys poses challenges for health staff. That is why it is essential that they are able to access patient information quickly and easily. This new funding will free up more staff time to allow them to focus on patient care.”