South east London trust to develop integrated health and social care record
Lewisham and Greenwich announce five-year contract with Orion Health to develop integrated health and social care record
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust and Lewisham Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have announced they are partnering with Orion Health to deliver a person-centric electronic record that will provide health and social care professionals across parts of south east London with information at the point of care, enabling better, faster, and more-informed clinical and care-related decisions.
In conjunction with local commissioners and with funding support from the NHS England Safer Hospitals Safer Wards fund, the trust has approved a full business case to deploy Orion Health’s Cross Community Care Record (CCCR) to integrate key information relevant to acute services provided at the Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth hospital sites, community services provided by the trust and Lewisham primary care services.
This will see around 4,000 users provided with secure, appropriate, online access, and a real opportunity to improve the co-ordination of services and the delivery of improved outcomes of care; for example, through more-targeted interventions and care planning. The number of users could rise by a further 3,500 if the CCCR is extended to Greenwich primary care, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich social care, as planned by partner organisations.
Elisa Steele, director of IT at Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, said: “Our drive to integrate care records reinforces our ambition to truly unite services and staff in Lewisham and Greenwich. In addition, integrating our systems and patient information will help us to coordinate care with our colleagues in local government, supporting the NHS’ objective to be fully integrated with social care by 2018.
“More co-ordinated care delivery means reduced hospital admissions, reduced A&E attendances, fewer referrals, and fewer outpatient follow ups throughout our local health economy. What’s more, we will be able to deliver more-targeted interventions and care planning to reduce clinical risks when transferring care across boundaries.”
The new integrated care record and the associated workflow tools will support the strategic aspirations for community-based care in south east London, including the delivery of high quality, integrated care for high-risk groups such as people with long-term conditions. The system will enable health and social care providers to collaborate and deliver a continuity of care that is focused on the needs of the individual.
Future plans include rollout of a secure and private web-based portal providing individuals with access to their own record.
Colin Henderson, managing director of UK and Ireland for Orion Health, said: “We will be working closely with Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust to help integrate the current silos of information, providing greater access for health and social care workers within their local health economy, with the ultimate goal of improving patient care and outcomes. This announcement reinforces our proven track record in delivering integrated systems for many health and social care providers across the UK.”
