Press release
Summary Care Records support safe, effective care at BARDOC
Bury patients taken ill out of hours rely on BARDOC (Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call – the GP out of hours service) to treat them in place of their regular GP. For GPs working at this service, this means caring for patients who they may never have encountered in the past. That’s why it is vital that they have access to up to date, accurate information about their patients to ensure that they can provide them with the best possible, safe care.
The introduction of Summary Care Records to Bury back in September 2007 turned out to be an ideal solution for BARDOC, as these electronic records contain key information from a patient’s medical record such as details of allergies, recent medications and adverse reactions to medications.
These Summary Care Records, which have been delivered as part of the National Programme for IT, have been used in BARDOC since March 2008. At first usage was fairly low as GPs had to move between two systems to be able to view a patient’s Summary Care Record which could be time consuming. However all of this changed when, in December 2008, Summary Care Records were integrated into the BARDOC IT system and could be viewed instantly within this system.
Since then doctors at BARDOC have found Summary Care Records to be of real benefit and usage has increased five-fold. This is a huge increase and, now that over 100,000 patients in Bury have a Summary Care Record, will continue to grow.
Dr Rob Stokes, the Director of Clinical Governance, who is a regular user of Summary Care Records at BARDOC said; "Summary Care Records are an invaluable tool for doctors working in BARDOC. Even the basic information such as knowing what medication a person is taking is really very helpful. We often get patients who phone up who have run out of their ‘white tablets’ but the Summary Care Record can give us the exact details of the drugs we need to prescribe."
“We are really starting to see the benefits for patients and for clinicians and as a result are accessing the electronic record more and more. It is without doubt a wonderful development that is improving patient care significantly in Bury.”
ENDS
Date: 30th June 2009
For further information please contact Caroline Dearden, Corporate Communications Manager, NHS Bury on 0161 762 3106 or email communications@bury.nhs.uk
Notes to editor:
- The NHS Summary Care Records early adopter programme was launched in Bury in 2007 following a 16 week public information campaign. This is the first step in establishing the NHS Care Records Service, part of the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT).
- Bury was the second PCT in the country to join the project which enables patient information to be shared electronically between health professionals.
- The Summary Care Record consists of key information such as allergies, current prescriptions and adverse reactions to medicines. This is available to health professionals treating patients in need of urgent care helping to provide safer and more efficient care.
- Over 100,000 patients have now had a Summary Care Record created across Bury.
- Summary Care Records can be accessed at Fairfield A&E, BARDOC (Bury and Rochdale Doctors on Call), Fairfield Medical Assessment Unit (MAU), Pennine Care - Access Team / Crisis Resolution / Hospital at Night, Tier 2 Diabetes Services, Bury Walk in Centre, Dental Access Centre, North West Ambulance Service (NWAS).
- NHS Connecting for Health (CFH), a national agency of the Department of Health, is supporting local NHS organisations to deliver the programme. Over a ten year period (which began in 2004) this programme will connect GPs, hospitals and other NHS facilities and change the way the NHS works. Other developments include Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions, Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS) which allows digital storage of X-rays and other images, GP2GP and many more.
For more information about the NHS Bury Early Adopter Summary Care Record programme please contact Gemma Wantling NE Sector NPfIT Communication Lead on 0161 655 1736.
For information about the National Programme for Information Technology (NPfIT) in England please visit www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk