System C’s acute hospital sites are going live with the new emergency care dataset (ECDS), brought in by the NHS to help alleviate winter pressures and improve patient outcomes and experience.

The new data set was developed over 24 months by NHS Digital, working with the Royal College of Emergency Medicines, in order to help understand how and why people access urgent and emergency care over the winter months. Data collected also relates to diagnosis and discharge.

According to NHS Digital, this extra information will support the introduction of new models of care and help ensure patients are receiving care in the most appropriate care setting. It will also help in the planning of healthcare services.

Substantial CQUIN payments are dependent on emergency departments meeting the requirements of the new dataset from October 2017.

University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust (UH Bristol) was the first NHS Trust nationally to have successfully collected and submitted data to NHS Digital, and has done so using System C’s software. UH Bristol is System C’s Global Digital Exemplar partner.

Other System C sites are following suit in a deployment programme running over thcourse of the next month, with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust next off the block.

“This is a very substantial and complex software development involving changes to both data collection and automated reporting, with reporting frequency increasing to daily”, said Dr Ian Denley, joint chief executive of System C. “This work has been a priority for us, and is part of our on-going commitment to providing our users with the most up-to date and comprehensive solutions we can.

“We are particularly pleased to be able to support the NHS in its focus on meeting the increased demands of the winter months”, he added.

“We frequently get central change notices but rarely anything this complex to deliver” said Andrew Hooper, Head of IM&T at UH Bristol. “It is reassuring to work with a supplier that prioritises work of this sort to enable us meet difficult deadlines.”

Other trusts using System C’s Medway solutions due to go live over the next few weeks include Sheffield Children’s, Nottingham University Hospitals, United Lincolnshire, North Middlesex, Southport & Ormskirk Hospital, Buckinghamshire Healthcare, Colchester Hospital University, Great Western Hospitals, Whittington Health, Southend University Hospital, Gateshead Health and Kettering General Hospital.

The ECDS is replacing the current Accident & Emergency Commissioning Data Set. It contains 108 data items, including patient demographics; episode information; clinical information injury information; referred services and discharge information such as onward referral for treatment, treatment complete, streaming, follow-up treatment and safeguarding concerns.

System C offers a solution that manages full data collection, data analysis and data submission.