Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and the city’s GP practices have taken steps towards becoming the first regional group to use the GP Connect system for patient data.
The integration has been delivered by EMIS Health, working with the trust, under a programme led by NHS Digital. It will make patient information from GP records securely available between different healthcare practitioners and social care officials.
There are plans for the system to provide authorised access to structured information on medications and allergies from patient records.
Dr Alistair Walling, chief clinical information officer for Leeds, said, “We have embraced GP Connect in Leeds because it helps to deliver truly patient centred care.
“Using the technology to provide timely information to care professionals when supporting patients’ care whether at home, in the community or hospital helps provide safer and better care. We have a clear vision in Leeds to be the best city for health and wellbeing and digital achievement of this nature really help us to deliver our goals for our patients.”
Leeds has been among the leaders in developing digital systems to support the integration of health and social care. The Leeds Care Record, launched in 2013, is now used by all the GP surgeries in the city, along with a number of other agencies in areas such as mental health, community health and social care; and it has fed into the development of the Ripple model for use by other authorities.
The Leeds Informatics Board, a group of clinicians and senior managers from across health and social care organisations in Leeds, oversees the informatics work within the city.
Image from iStock, Berekin Health
