Tynedale Hospice at Home, a Hexham-based charity, commissioned NECS to migrate their clinical records from paper to the electronic system TPP SystmOne.
The project supported multiple services including hospice nursing, dementia care, family support, transport and complementary therapies, with go-live achieved in March 2025.
The challenge
The hospice considered which type of SystmOne unit would be best for them and decided on the Palliative Care unit to streamline workflows across their service and connect to a shared, dynamic medical record to enhance overall patient care.
- Staff had no prior experience with electronic records.
- Paper records remained essential in some areas (e.g. patient homes, transport).
- Limited rural Wi-Fi required mobile working solutions.
- The hospice needed to choose the most suitable SystmOne unit – selecting Palliative Care for integration across services.
- Staff training needs varied significantly by role and experience.
- Installation delays impacted mobile working functionality at go-live.
Our response
- A Training Needs Analysis informed bespoke training materials and schedules.
- Introductory e-learning and dedicated NECS website resources supported onboarding.
- Remote and in-person training was delivered to over 30 staff, supported by help guides and live support via MS Teams.
- Supplementary sessions ensured full team inclusion.
- Templates from local partners were adapted to hospice needs.
- Weekly audit reports tracked progress.
Outcomes
The training programme delivered to the Hospice was successfully executed within the contracted time frame, with a strong focus on tailored training materials and ensured support during and after the Go-Live phase.
We adapted to project changes, including the delayed delivery of the unit and subsequent postponed go live.
Supplementary training was provided for staff unavailable during the scheduled sessions, to ensure that no team member was left behind.
- Staff adopted SystmOne quickly, efficiently managing caseloads and referrals.
- Access to GP and District Nurse records, safeguarding information and key codes now supports safer, more coordinated care.
- Real-time record sharing and task management is improving cross-organisation collaboration.
- Death notifications within the system help close records effectively and eliminate data loss.
- Accurate, automated reporting is reducing reliance on Excel, streamlining operational insight.
“As a first-time user, I was initially concerned about system complexity and data sharing. However, the Superuser training was intense but clear, and the online guides are easy to follow. One-to-one in-house sessions were especially productive, allowing us to resolve issues in real time with trainer support.”