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Developing a mobile clinical system for DHU Health Care

Channel 3 was appointed to develop a patient records system based on SystmOne, which would enable patient data to be securely accessed by doctors on the move, giving access to a patient’s medical history and enabling consistent reporting of out of hours care from multiple locations.

DHU Health Care provides NHS 111 services to over 10% of the UK population, as well as Out of Hours services on behalf of North Derbyshire, South Derbyshire and Erewash Clinical Commissioning Groups.

What challenges did we face?

DHU Health Care had successfully bid to provide a 24/7 GP visiting service for patients in Leicestershire, as well as providing walk-in primary care for three centres in the county. Leicester CCG requested that the service be based on SystmOne from TPP as this would enable better integration with their existing GP clinical records system. Historically DHU Health Care had used Adastra as a Patient Administration and reporting system. With no SystmOne expertise internally, DHU Health Care approached Channel 3 Consulting to bridge this gap.

Channel 3 was appointed to develop a patient records system based on SystmOne, which would enable patient data to be securely accessed by doctors on the move, giving access to a patient’s medical history and enabling consistent reporting of out of hours care from multiple locations.

At the start of the project it was unclear if such a system could be created as it was the first of its type to be trialled. SystmOne’s mobile offering was in its infancy and had not been used in an out of hours environment. It was also unclear if the stringent Out of Hours reporting requirements could be delivered, both technically and qualitatively, using SystmOne. In addition, there were many unknowns regarding the use of 3G/4G mobile communication protocols and the possibility of a “store & forward” approach to data capture.

What was our approach?

Channel 3 proposed a comprehensive service, from specifying and developing the exact requirements of the system, through to implementation and training. We deployed an experienced team on site consisting of project managers, reporting technical specialists, business process specialists, analysts and configuration experts to cover every aspect of the specification and migration to SystmOne.

Having established the main challenges, including those around existing business processes as well as hardware limitations, the team agreed a set of “to be” business processes. This meant going beyond the original scope of the programme to deliver changes in the way both the clinicians and administrators worked to improve efficiency and patient safety.

Working in partnership with DHU Health Care, we configured SystmOne to replace a paper based mobile recording system, adding maps to guide the driver to patients’ houses to improve response times and clinical safety. The system was created from standard components to provide a bespoke series of screens for clinical and administrative staff.

Considerable effort was put in to developing a suite of tailored forms which would allow out of hours clinicians to append information to a patient’s record in a consistent format, minimizing the amount of time required to populate forms while seeing patients. 

What impact did we have?

The project went live on time and has been deemed a success by clinical, administrative, technical and financial teams at the DHU Health Care. There has been a substantial increase in accurate reporting and in overall patient safety. The team realised:

  • A system which is fit for purpose and meets the needs of clinicians and administrators
  • The screens used by clinicians have been specifically tailored to reflect both their likely usage and their statutory reporting requirements
  • Mapping technology provides shortest routes to a patient’s location to speed up response times
  • Electronic reporting has replaced paper-based records, improving security, and accuracy

Channel 3 provided us with an excellent service at what was a difficult time for us. The contract was professionally managed and delivered the desired outcomes. I would happily recommend their services and people to other organisations

Peter J. Quinn
Director of Finance, Performance and IT
DHU Health Care

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