Clinicians across Somerset have access to ’lifesaving’ software following successful pilots in Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital, Yeovil District Hospital and Somerset Partnership Mental Health Units and Community Hospitals.
The EMIS Web Electronic Patient Record (EPR) Viewer enables authorised healthcare professionals to view GP medical records for the patients they treat, subject to patient consent at the point of care, providing vital information about allergies, inoculations and previous treatments. Contrary to popular belief, it has not always been possible for other healthcare professionals to view the GP medical record.
First introduced within the emergency departments, mental health crisis teams and minor injury units, the EMIS Web EPR Viewer is now available to all health professionals across Somerset CCG, subject to patient consent at the point of care.
EMIS Web EPR Viewer has been used more than 10,000 times since its introduction in October 2016, with use now growing significantly every day.
Explaining the difference that EMIS Web EPR Viewer has made, Musgrove Park Hospital Consultant Physician Dr Matthew Hayman said: “It can be lifesaving. If we don’t know of a particular medication that a patient is on – anti-epilepsy medication, anticonvulsants, Parkinson’s medication or other critical medications, we can now find out with little effort.
“Patients often think the NHS is a national service and that everybody has access to their records. Until we had the EMIS Web EPR Viewer, we were unable to find out about that patient’s other interactions in the NHS. Now it really does feel like a joined-up service.”
EMIS Web EPR Viewer is now being released to all clinical services within Somerset. These include other care providers such as hospices and those over the Somerset county borders.
Richard Greaves, the Somerset Integrated Digital electronic Record (SIDeR) interoperability programme manager for Somerset CCG said: “The initial introduction of EMIS Web EPR Viewer has been tremendously successful and I am pleased that it is now available to all clinicians across Somerset.”
