The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has announced the successful integration of national service GP Connect with its existing technology systems including its EPR, allowing healthcare workers across a variety of settings to access patient records.
Through GP Connect, staff are supported to view and update care records and manage appointments, with the NHS noting that work is underway to enable patients to view records, appointments and prescriptions through the service, as well as requesting permission to view this information if it has not already been granted.
Integrated with “all major GP software providers”, the service routes requests to the appropriate GP system; Rotherham describes how it offers a “streamlined experience ” for staff, “with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in response to [incorporating] the latest patient data from GP records”.
James Rawlinson, director of health informatics at Rotherham, states that GP Connect “plays a crucial role in clinical processes such as medicines reconciliation, enabling our clinical teams in near real- time to pull in accurate medication list”. Other benefits are said to include quicker treatment and shorter queue lines.
The integration was led by Rotherham’s pharmacy technician team along with MEDITECH UK.
Last November, we reported on the launch of a digital inclusion programme from Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council which seeks to promote digital inclusion for residents across the borough in collaboration with various stakeholders including the NHS and voluntary sector organisations.
In the summer, we explored a case study on the trust’s electronic vaccination process, through which the trust aimed to build on their experience using an electronic process to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations during the pandemic. Read more here.
We also previously invited James Rawlinson to join us for a panel discussion on waitlist validation, during which he shared insights into Rotherham’s projects and outcomes in this area.
