NHS Sussex Integrated Care System’s latest People and Digital Committee report outlines several key digital and data successes over the past quarter, including the launch of the Plexus Transfer of Care Hubs dashboard and NHS App uptake.
The ICS shares how digital and data have contributed to the progress of the ICB’s Improving Lives Together strategy, with notable areas of success including the launch of their Transfer of Care Hubs in April 2024, which reportedly allows “managers and clinicians to support the discharge process” and works alongside their existing shared care record.
The shared care record reportedly draws data form 156 GP practices, as well as from sources including Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust mental health data, University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust transfer of care data, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust transfer of care data and community health plans, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust transfer of care data, referral and virtual ward data and East Sussex County Council Adult Social Care data.
Looking ahead, the report mentions challenges with the roll-out of the shared care record into care homes relating to digital maturity and limited NHS mail access, stating: “As a result, the target of the Plexus Care Record being made available in 30 percent of care homes and a frontrunner VCSE provision, will not be met by 31 March 2025.” Potential alternative routes include the integration of Plexus into existing Digital Social Care Record systems, it considers, with the committee suggesting a cost-benefit analysis would help identify which care homes should be prioritised.
The ICS also highlights the success of the NHS App within the region, reporting that “over 1 million patients in Sussex are registered on the NHS App with more than 12,000 appointments booked or cancelled each month” as of October 2024. The My Health Care Record system is also reportedly being used “by more than a third (540,000 users) of the adult population” of Sussex. According to the ICB, this places them in 6th place when looking at ICB NHS app registrations on a national level.
Also included in the report is a high level summary of Sussex’s digital architecture, where the ICS lists current digital technology products. It notes plans around provider EPRs such as UHSx, where it notes intentions to introduce a “modular approach plus the merged systems from predecessor trusts”; ESHT acute, with plans to implement a full organisation new EPR with Nervecentre; QVH, where delivery is ongoing to implement a full organisation new EPR with Altera; and ESHT Community, SPFT and SCFT, where it notes plans to implement or continue the use of SystmOne EPR. Further EPR updates highlight that 86 practices in the region are currently using SystmOne (TPP), with 70 using EMIS EPR.
According to the ICB, this represents “high degrees of alignment” with the same EPR in use across community, mental health and many GP practices; as well as divergence in other areas, where acute trusts may end up with a different EPR. However, it notes “this is balanced by system products to span these gaps”.
Data products are also outlined within Sussex’s digital architecture, with the report pointing to the Federated Data Platform, the Sussex Integrated Dataset, GP data flowed into the Sussex Integrated Dataset, and public health data. It covers shared data back ends, where it notes shared PTL and diagnostics.
Other key areas of success identified in the report include the trialling of a GP frailty tool at Bexhill Primary Care Network and the completion of critical IT infrastructure upgrades at multiple practices to help them “meet their digital contractual requirements”.
When highlighting what happens next, the ICS states that the committee will continue to “utilise the system digital landscape to progress discussions on the evolution of digital and data initiatives to support the Improving Lives Together strategy”.
Read the report in full to find out more.
Digital transformation in the wider Sussex region
Last month, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust shared its organisational strategy for 2025 – 2030, setting out its vision, objectives and measures, while also noting opportunities to utilise data, innovation and a digital-first approach. Ensuring that data and digital technologies are “embedded and used routinely to support effective and productive care” forms one of five key parts of the trust’s ambitions.
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust recently awarded a contract worth £275k to London-based Physitrack PLC, for the provision of an exercise prescription software service. The platform is said to enable physiotherapists to create “customised home exercise programmes” with “easy-to-follow” videos to promote adherence, pain tracking, and progress monitoring features.
For a recent panel discussion, we were joined by a group of experts to discuss digital workforce education and training. This included sharing examples of educational programmes to support digital initiatives, as well as best practices for engaging the workforce in digital education and tech. To form part of our panel, we welcomed George Anibaba, senior innovation manager at Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex, who highlighted ways in which to “effectively and safely adopt digital innovations within integrated care systems and constituent organisations”.
