Two of the suppliers on the Tech Innovation Framework are “on target to go live” within general practice according to a blog shared by NHS England, and as such deliver on the framework’s vision to supply internet-first, cloud-hosted and user-centred products to support flexibility and agility, as well as increasing inoperability through use of direct care APIs.
The ‘new choices for GP IT’ blog points to the support available for buyers and primary care settings looking to embed cloud-based systems, highlighting the Early Adopter programme which has seen NHSE support integrated care boards with guidance and funding as well as advice around discovery, change planning, implementation, migration and service acceptance. For primary care settings looking to get involved, information on the Early Adopter programme can be found here.
The blog notes the scale of change for GP IT, stating “any solution that operates as a GP’s main clinical system requires compliance with over 30 standards” with need “to integrate with more than 25 pieces of national tech infrastructure, including NHS products such as the Summary Care Record, the NHS App, the Electronic Prescription Service and NHS e-Referral Service”.
Looking ahead, further support is to be made available to practices to help with migrating systems; as part of this, in the coming months, NHSE plans to make case studies available from practices who have already started to go through this change.
NHSE states that whilst the work is “most certainly not over yet”, there is confidence that the changes ahead “will mean more choice for buyers and ultimately will raise the bar for suppliers in the GP IT market” as well as making a positive impact for patients and practices by improving efficiencies and supporting new models of care and place-based working.
To read the blog in full, please click here.
At the start of the month the NHS England board provided an update on the digital portfolio across the NHS including the federated data platform, primary care, NHS App and more.
In January, we shared our interview with Dr Rajkumar A Shanmugam (Raj), NHSE’s deputy chief medical information officer, GP, head of the practice team at the Eric Moore Partnership in Warrington and chair of the NHS Clinical Leaders Network. Raj discussed his journey through primary care, the national projects he has been involved in, his hopes for the future and more; click here to read.
