Kingston and Richmond NHS Foundation Trust has launched a project to explore how digital information systems can be better integrated across health and care to help improve frailty services for both patients and clinicians.
The trust will be working alongside South West London ICB to “explore how systems can be better designed and used to make care more efficient and joined-up across health and social care”. This includes looking at ways to improve the flow of patient information across various sites in the region, such as hospitals, GPs, social care, community services and voluntary organisations. The pilot will also focus on the use of data for identifying when a patient needs extra support and testing “more efficient ways of working”.
Noting the benefits of the project, Dr Annette Pautz, Kingston GP, said: “This is great news for SWL. Kingston and Richmond will lead the way in implementing digital systems that improve care for local residents. There is strong collaboration across the boroughs, and we look forward to sharing our learning nationally.”
The project forms part of NHS England’s wider digital transformation portfolio and will follow a seven-step process, aiming to map current pathways, identify key challenges, design better workflows and improve functionality in order to “make systems easier to use, add new digital capabilities, and deliver measurable improvements in productivity”.
Digital integration and interoperability across health and care
We spoke with Harris Health Alliance’s Rob Whitney, sales and account manager, and Katie Sutcliffe, head of marketing, to talk about how digital can help tackle interoperability in the health and care space. This included exploring key challenges with interoperability and how to solve them, benefits and how interoperability works in practice.
In a recent HTN Now webinar, we were joined by Neill Crump, digital strategy director at Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust; Ananya Datta, associate director of primary care digital delivery at South East London ICS; and John Kosobucki, CEO of OX.DH. The session focused on how health and care can tackle challenges around digital integration and interoperability, looking at the key steps that can be taken to make progress in this area. Our expert panellists shared details about their own projects and programmes, providing insights into strategy, approaches and potential improvements that can be made.
Earlier in the year, the NHS England Transformation Directorate launched a survey to better understand experiences of clinical systems and digital tools in general practice. It aims to help understand what works, what doesn’t, and what needs to change, with questions around the practice’s current clinical system and use of other software such as triage tools and clinical decision support. Respondents are asked to what extent they agree or disagree with a series of statements around the role of digital systems in supporting high-quality care, efficiency, availability, functionality, integration, and more.
