Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s integrated care system has signed an eight-year contract with Orion Health to develop a shared care record that will be used by eight health and care organisations and all the GP practices in its area.
The shared care record will take data feeds from the IT systems used by health and social care providers and create a single, holistic view of a patient’s medical and care information.
This will reduce the amount of time that patients spend repeating basic details about themselves to different services, while enabling professionals to deliver more efficient, co-ordinated health and care services, with less paperwork.
The first phase of the project will launch in spring 2022 with a second phase also due to follow later in the year.
Andrew Raynes, director of digital and chief information officer at The Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust and chair of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS Digital Enabling Group, said: “We have had really good engagement with our community across hospital, mental health, and community trusts, along with primary and social care, to help us take this project forward.
“A shared care record helps to join up services and saves time for both patients and health care staff. It’s been a cornerstone for us as a system and we’re delighted to be moving ahead with the next step in creating something that best serves our patients across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.”
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s ICS is bringing together health and social care to improve the health and wellbeing of local communities and reduce health inequalities. Its aim is to “put patients at the heart of everything we do.”
Like other ICSs, it will take forward ideas outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan and is tasked with joining up existing services and creating new pathways that focus on the individual and allow them to be treated as close to home as possible.
Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council’s executive director of people and communities, Wendi Ogle-Welbourn said: “We’re really excited to have this opportunity to take forward the way in which the NHS and social care work together locally.
“We know that many people we support also have many points of contact with the NHS. If we can share information with their consent we will be able to strengthen the way we work together and keep the person at the centre.”
Scott Haldane, ICS executive sponsor for the shared care record programme and director of finance at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is an important step in building integrated health care records for our communities across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. All our partners are committed to the project, which will help us to deliver effective, joined-up care to improve the lives of our patients.”
Dr Rozelle Kane, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS digital clinical lead, added: “All of our partners across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are working together to deliver the shared care record.
“This new view of important care data will bring together information to enable health and care professionals in their roles and ultimately improve patient care.”
Richard Hodder, patient representative and lead governor at Royal Papworth Hospital said: “To have instant access to a full medical history through a shared care record system represents a major advantage to both patient and clinician, especially in the emergency situation.”
One of the important factors behind Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s choice of Orion Health is its commitment to using national standards to collect and structure information.
The use of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources or FHIR and other standards will make it easier to share information between the many different IT systems in use across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, in a safe and approved way.
Brian Murray, southern sales director for Orion Health, said: “We are delighted to welcome Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to the Orion Health family at such an exciting time in the development of shared care records in England.
“The ICS will be adopting the very latest version of the Orion Health portal, which comes with a new user interface that adjusts automatically to screen size, and new dashboards that make it easier for users to get quickly to the information that they need.
“It meets the core requirement for a shared care record and, more importantly, it lays a firm foundation for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s ambitions, which include population health management and a citizen portal / personal health record.
“We are already talking to the ICS about implementation, but we all know that this is just the starting point for an eight-year journey. A journey that will help to shape the services that patients need and deserve.”
