NECS was approached by GreaterMiddlesbrough PCN in April 2024 to discuss clinical systems support aimed at improving
interoperability across the PCNs mixed clinical systems.
Greater Middlesbrough PCN comprises of eight GP units, three on EMIS Web and five on SystmOne and were having to access every unit daily to utilise shared working clinics hosted across the PCN. They were keen to explore alternatives that would
eliminate the inefficiencies and time delays caused by repeatedly logging in and out of multiple systems.
Their goal was to understand how GP Connect could streamline workflows, save time in practice and improve efficiency for their clinical systems.
The clinical system specialist team at NECS was able to offer the PCN a variety of support options, at different levels, starting with a basic suite of user guides, to a more comprehensive package involving time to be used to test and consult on the functionality and devise a custom package of training materials for the PCN.
Middlesbrough PCN opted to go for the three day package, and we began collaborating with their Digital and Transformation Lead to initiate investigations and a strategy for implementing GP Connect.
The challenge
GP Connect functionality can be complex to explore as you need live spine-enabled patients and live units with full GP connect functionality and sharing agreements in place. It is also an area of GPIT that has been expanding and evolving since the initial functionality was developed. They have added new elements such as Third-Party Record Integration, and Consultation Messaging which has not been widely tested or adopted.
As there was some uncertainty over what GP connect could offer, the PCN had not agreed how much functionality they would be utilising, so we began the project with several potential levels that we wanted to work towards. The GPs wanted to alleviate appointment workload for their admin team who were managing the shared working bookings across the eight units.
The PCN wanted to make the process quicker and easier for their clinical team to access patient records and complete consultations for patients attending from any GP at the PCN. They also wanted to provide a consistent process across the whole PCN, making systems more universal and easier to manage for everyone.
It sounded like GP Connect could give them the results they were looking for, but it would need to work across a variety of scenarios and provide a solution that saved time but also still maintained relevant, comprehensive and efficient patient service.
Our response
Once the PCN lead had secured the necessary sharing agreements, and attained a spine enabled test patient, we were able to proceed with scoping out current GP connect usage. Our initial investigations allowed us to review the setup and optimise the configuration to ensure consistency across the PCN. As we progressed, however, it was clear that both systems would behave slightly differently. We had to collate differences and make sure we were adapting plans to suit both. We quickly identified how appointment booking functionality could be optimised to improve efficiency for both PCN and GP teams.
Building on this, we were able to consider the other aspects of GP connect. We started testing the functionality for record sharing via the Third-Party Integration setup which led to an exploration of necessary sharing consents. Once we were happy we’d explored the elements, we looked at the last stage of the patient contact which was data entry and communicating actions back to the home GP unit. We were able to test out the consultation messaging service which allowed us to send an electronic document version of the consultation to the clinical system workflow.
As we determined how GP connect could be utilised, the CSS allocated to the project produced a demonstration of the functionality for the PCN board so they could decide on the path for the PCN. NECS also created four separate training videos to cover both clinical systems and the new GP connect processes for the booking GP unit and the PCN clinical staff.
Outcomes
This projet gave us an excellent opportunity to explore the GP connect functionality currently available and assess what would be useful to a PCN trying to develop their interoperability and a consistent approach across a mixed clinical system group.
We evaluated functionality boundaries, such as the registration timeframe and the potential impact on service delivery. We examined registration types in relation to GMS contract, EMIS appointment restrictions and slot / rota configuration preferences in SystmOne.
Furthermore, we assessed the available record access, and how actions would fit around the GP connect mode. The PCN now has a more robust grasp of what GP Connect can provide for their service. They can choose how to instigate the functionality and new
processes at a time to suit their practice and PCN needs.
As a result of our investigations, the PCN will be adopting the appointment booking functionality, with an aim of returning to the record access and consultation messaging functionality for suitable clinics soon.
Hopefully both GP connect and the clinical system suppliers will continue to evolve their functionality to accommodate PCN working, so it can be more effectively utilised in the future.
“The support received from NECS was crucial to this project and gave us the knowledge needed to proceed with the GP Connect project in the way that most suited our PCN and configuration. Jo was well informed, approachable and friendly, helping with all aspects of the project including testing, config, meeting with practice managers over Teams, and production of resources (video and documents) for reception teams who would be booking the appointments across the PCN.
“The project was well thought out from beginning to end and we tried different configurations over the course of the project to see what would work best for our setup.”