Solution enables Scottish clinicians to access Key Information Summaries at the touch of a button
Health boards in south east Scotland deploy Harris Healthcare system providing information from GPs
Patients’ Key Information Summaries (KIS) are being made available to clinicians across south east Scotland following the deployment of a clinical portal.
The solution, from Harris Healthcare, is part of an extension of Scotland’s existing Emergency Care Summary and contains information from GPs including diagnosis, current issues and carer and support details.
The integration with the clinical portal from Harris and Capita Managed IT Solutions, means that four health boards in the south east consortium can now access the detailed patient information more easily.
Jonathan Cameron, KIS programme manager at NHS National Services Scotland IT, said: “The portal access took away a lot of the integration issues, so it’s much easier getting clinicians to access the KIS. With just one log-in they don’t have to remember several passwords and they get access to other information alongside it through the portal. It becomes a lot easier for them to use the information available to them.”
More than 40,000 people have created a KIS with their GP, which is available to secondary care clinicians, ambulance staff and nursing home staff.
It covers healthcare providers in the NHS Lothian, NHS Dumfries and Galloway, NHS Fife and NHS Borders areas.
NHS Lothian was the first health board to take advantage of the integration.
Kelly Smith, patient portal project manager at the health board, said: “Allowing clinicians across care settings to better understand the complete picture of a patient’s medical history and care is an essential component of an integrated health service and will undoubtedly help to enable continuity of care.”
As part of Scotland’s wider e-Health strategy, the KIS will continue to be rolled out with increased capability and NHS Scotland will develop and publish a Health and Social Care Information Sharing Strategic Framework later this year.
