BT to help join up health and social care in Islington
BT today announced it has been awarded a five year, £7.4 million contract to link up the information systems currently in use by Islington’s 10,000 health and social care professionals.
Linking up information systems to improve experience of care for borough’s residents
BT today announced it has been awarded a five year, £7.4 million contract to link up the information systems currently in use by Islington’s 10,000 health and social care professionals. This will underpin the development of a single integrated digital care record for each of the borough’s 206,000 residents, as well as giving them secure access to their own electronic personal health record, helping to deliver a more person-centred, integrated approach to health and social care.
It’s the first time information systems in Islington can work together - or interoperate - andit is a key step towards the government’s target for all patient care records to be digital, real-time and interoperable by the end of 2020 to support the move to more integrated care.
Under the contract, awarded by the NHS Islington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the London Borough of Islington, BT will build, operate and manage a hosted interoperability service. This will help better co-ordinate care around people’s needs, improve the experience of care and ensure the best possible health and wellbeing outcomes in the area - one of NHS England’s 25 Integrated Care pioneer sites.
BT will develop a secure integrated digital care record which pulls together data from information systems in different care settings into a single place, to give authorised health and care professionals a more complete view of a person’s care.
This means, for the first time, clinicians and care workers in health and social care in Islington will be able to access all the data they need electronically, giving them more detailed information about all their patients’ encounters with the NHS and social care – and visibility of their entire care pathway.
The new service will help to reduce errors as vital information collected about a person by one organisation, such as allergies, prescription medicines and care plans, can easily be viewed together in one place by health and care workers treating them in other organisations. This information will be presented in a secure manner on the practitioner’s device - whether it be desktop, laptop or tablet.
The largest health and social care interoperability programme of its kind in the UK, the service will support the introduction of a person-held record for the people of Islington, helping to put them at the heart of their own health and care. They will have access to their own health and social care information and will be able to participate in and actively manage their long-term health and care. For example, people will be able to see information such as their test results, upcoming appointments, and also share information with clinicians and carers such as their weight and blood pressure and any over the counter medicines they are taking. They can also find information on dietary plans, fitness and general well-being advice.
Dr Katie Coleman, joint vice chair of NHS Islington CCG, said: “This is an exciting step in our plans to develop an integrated approach to health and social care throughout the borough of Islington. It will not only improve the experience of care, but will also ensure the best possible health and well-being outcomes for people.”
“As a GP, I want to give people as much control as possible over their own health and care so I’m particularly excited about the introduction of the person-held record. As well as helping us to create a truly patient-centred service, it will promote personal health improvement and prevention.”
Simon Galczynski, Islington Council’s Director of Adult Social Care, said: “We have a great track record of developing innovative health and social care support in Islington. Our plans as a Pioneer Site for Integrated Working set out our aspirations to take this to the next level, with joined-up health and social care support designed in partnership with our residents.”
“However, we will only be able to take this so far without systems that can talk to each other. The current limitations on integrated records are a daily frustration for people who use our health and care services, and for those who work in them. An integrated, person-held record will help connect different parts of health and give the person greater control over their record and who can see it, while ensuring they don't have to keep giving the same information to each person involved in their care.”
“I look forward to working with everyone over the coming months to make this a reality."
Ian Dalton, president of Global Government and Health, BT Global Services, said: “We’re delighted to be working with NHS Islington CCG and the London Borough of Islington on this transformational service to join up health and social care.
“Pioneering programmes of this kind are vital in helping government and the NHS to provide interoperability between systems by 2020 to help drive efficiency and cost savings, and importantly, to put people at the heart of their care.”
“We’re passionate about the role technology can play in providing a more integrated, joined-up approach to help organisations work together to serve people better at lower cost.”
BT will build and operate a fully managed, end-to-end service for NHS Islington CCG and the London Borough of Islington, providing a service that will enable health and care practitioners to focus on what they do best – providing high quality care.
Hosted on BT’s secure platform, the service complies with the stringent NHS information governance security standards governing patient identifiable data – something which is essential in a health and social environment where patient and service user confidentiality is paramount.
The new service is expected to go live autumn 2016.
ENDS
About Islington Council
Islington Council is a local authority serving over 206,000 inner London residents. Our primary aim is to deliver a fairer Islington, for the benefit of all our residents.
About Islington Clinical Commissioning Group
Islington Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) plans and buys health care for the local population, which includes hospital care; community health services; mental health and learning disabilities services; and rehabilitation services
All GP practices in the borough are part of this CCG. The CCG has a Governing Body, which meets regularly, and is chaired by a local GP
More information about Islington CCG can be found here
For more information please email isl.ccg@media.nhs.net or call 020 3688 2900.
