Liverpool hospital joins up IT with 100 GP practices to deliver seamless care

University Hospital Aintree in Merseyside has gone live with an ambitious project that seamlessly links patient information from 100 GP practices, representing 450,000 patients, to clinicians working across all of its urgent care services.

The project - the first in the UK to link two different primary and secondary care IT systems on this scale - will improve patient care and deliver significant efficiencies by providing vital patient information at the point of need.

The development is the result of a collaboration between System C, whose Medway family of patient management and clinical systems is widely used by hospital clinicians across the country, and  EMIS Group, a leading supplier of GP software, via its next generation system, EMIS Web

Working closely with the hospital and with Liverpool Primary Care Trust (PCT), the two companies have delivered an interoperable solution that enables hospital staff to access GP patient records held in EMIS instantly, from within their own Medway clinical system.

By linking GP-held information into the secondary care setting, the project will:

• give hospital clinicians the full picture of a patient's care - reducing the margin for error and speeding up treatment and waiting times
• remove duplication of effort (e.g. ordering repeat tests) by providing a comprehensive patient record
• save time for hospital clinicians by giving them on-the-spot information about patients' current medications; in trials, the hospital estimates an extra two patients could be seen in a two-hour clinical window in the Medical Assessment Unit with staff having access to up to date, accurate prescribing information
• streamline the discharge process, by sending electronic discharge summaries back to the patient's GP under phase two of the development. 

The project has been implemented across the whole of the hospital's emergency floor - giving clinicians working in departments including A&E and coronary care access to the GP patient record from within System C's Medway clinical system - and always with patient consent.

Tony McDonnell, Associate Director of Informatics from University Hospital Aintree, said: "This project addresses the 'missing link' between primary and secondary care by giving hospital clinicians instant access to essential patient information to support diagnosis and treatment.

"Patients admitted for emergency treatment are often confused and distressed, making it difficult for them to remember essential information such as the medication they are on and recent tests they have had. By having the information instantly available, we are removing all of the hassle and wasted time that is often spent contacting the patient's GP - ensuring quicker and more informed care."

The Aintree project is the latest in a series of ambitious IT initiatives to be introduced by Liverpool PCT and Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the past year. These have included the deployment of a wide range of clinical systems from System C and the sharing of electronic GP records with minor surgery clinics and out-of-hours GPs via the EMIS Web system.  

Derek Campbell, Chief Executive of Liverpool PCT, said: "We are now at a point in Liverpool where medical records for hundreds of thousands of patients are being shared, securely and confidentially, across the whole healthcare landscape.

"This project is the final piece of the jigsaw, breaking down barriers between primary and secondary care. The result will be speedier safer, care for patients, and essential cost and efficiency savings for NHS services. It is a big leap forward."

ENDS

Notes to editors:

• University Hospital Aintree is a large teaching hospital providing Accident & Emergency services and a wide range of acute and non-acute specialties. www.aintreehospitals.nhs.uk
• Liverpool Primary Care Trust is responsible for commissioning healthcare services across the city. We manage a large range of contractual relationships with healthcare providers, including local hospitals and NHS Liverpool Community Health, the core of which cost £590m in 2008/09 and rising to £630m in 2009/10. www.liverpoolpct.nhs.uk
   
• EMIS Group plc ("EMIS") (www.emis-online.com) is the UK's leading supplier of healthcare software and related services to GPs.  EMIS Web - the company's next generation system - is a large-scale clinical management system that allows different healthcare practitioners to view and contribute to a patient's medical record. The Aintree hospital project is an extension of existing work in Liverpool to use EMIS Web to support record-sharing between primary, community and secondary care users.
• System C Healthcare plc (www.systemc.com), specialises in the design and development of clinical patient management and business intelligence software, and provides systems implementation and consulting services to the health and social care sectors.  System C Healthcare is quoted on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market. 

Media enquiries to:

Liverpool PCT: Hannah Cruickshank, tel. 0151 285 4857, hannah.cruickshank@liverpoolpct.nhs.uk

EMIS:  Libby Howard, tel. 0161 838 5622, libby@judgeandhoward.com

System C: Nicky Willmore, tel. 01622 691 616, nicky.willmore@systemc.com