Typical paper processes of transferring paper letters can take up to 5 days to arrive at a practice, being a time consuming and costly process. The solution means that 111 messages are transferred through an EDT Hub directly to GP practices in the area. Letters are delivered directly in to Docman’s intuitive workflow, utilising attached meta-data to pre-populate the filing fields for faster processing.
Úna Rice, Project Manager, Informatics Strategy and Programmes, NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster “We chose to use the EDT Hub for the 111 service as it was already central to our transfer of information strategy in Oxfordshire. Our practices were already using it to receive discharge and A&E summaries from the Oxford University Hospitals Trust so the infrastructure was already in place and in use. We wanted 111 messaging to fit in with that strategy.
“The solution is underpinned by a comprehensive audit trail, live tracking and the ability for GP’s to reject patients not registered with their practice. The beauty of the solution is the speed of the workflow from one point of care to the GPs desktop.”
Oxfordshire is also utilising PCTI’s EDT Hub to transfer clinical correspondence from its hospitals to GP practices. All practices in Oxfordshire use Docman, so the letters arrive directly into
Oxfordshire also decided to run a messaging pilot within the 111 project. That is, with Department of Health approval, we decided not to send all 111 contact summaries to our practices. That meant we needed the ability to suppress messages for certain dispositions and also for any patients referred on to our out-of-hours service. PCTI developed that functionality which we can now access and amend directly should the parameters of the pilot change. We also have access to amend the format of the rendered document. Having that control and flexibility has been very helpful.”
Ric Thompson, Managing Director, PCTI “We are delighted that EDT Hub is being used in another care setting to assist in delivering integrated services and information between organisations. The Hub enables immediate transfer of information to a patient’s GP, where a paper process would put patient care on hold until days later. This means the EDT Hub is well positioned to enable 111 deliver a 24/7 service without the administration overheads and time consuming processes associated with other methods”
“The solution is underpinned by a comprehensive audit trail, live tracking and the ability for GP’s to reject patients not registered with their practice. The beauty of the solution is the speed of the workflow from one point of care to the GPs desktop.”
Oxfordshire is also utilising PCTI’s EDT Hub to transfer clinical correspondence from its hospitals to GP practices. All practices in Oxfordshire use Docman, so the letters arrive directly into Docman’s intuitive workflow and at the fingertips of clinicians.
Extending the EDT Hub solution to the new 111 service provides an exciting opportunity to support the future of non-emergency health services. The service makes it easier for patients to access local NHS services to get through to a team of fully trained call advisers, supported by experience nurses to provide health advice or directing patients to the correct service to provide care.