This not-for-profit hotel is designed with safety and support in every detail. Emergency pull cords are fitted in every bedroom and bathroom. Several rooms are fitted with electric beds and have wheelchair access, a qualified emergency nurse is also on hand 24 hours a day. There is also a beach hut available for the guests use and free trips to local attractions. The hotel is operated by Dorset-based charity Macmillan Caring Locally who provide volunteers to work at the hotel.

With the help of TPP’s donation, The Grove Hotel hopes to refurbish the seating area for their guests. They’ll also invest in IT equipment, including a projector which would allow the hotel to advertise their work and attract more support from around the UK.

Brenden Howard, Manager of The Grove Hotel, said “We at The Grove can’t thank TPP enough. Your gift is very much appreciated and you can rest assured that our guests will also appreciate your kind gesture.”

Staff from TPP will be visiting The Grove Hotel soon to observe the work they are doing and see if there are any other ways we can assist.

The clinician treating their patient can then view their full history and medication along with any sensitivities and allergies. The CRV will also show them if the patient has visited their GP recently or accessed care out of hours. Staff at Scarborough Hospital are using the ability to print off a quick patient summary to attach to the patient’s ‘casualty card’ which moves around the hospital with them. Scarborough provides an ideal site for the CRV module as nearly 50% of GP practices in the area are already using SystmOne. Prior to the implementation of CRV staff said they spent more than 2 hours of every day phoning GPs in order to obtain patients’ medical records.    

The CRV module is currently only being used in the A&E department within Scarborough but due to the success of the go-live, clinicians now plan to roll it out to other wards. Andy Volans, the Lead Consultant in the A&E department said “The deployment was remarkably smooth, although there were a few minor hiccups on the first day as might be expected. Within the first 48 hours however, the information received allowed major changes in our management of patients and increased the information quality that we were dealing with, in both administration and clinical areas. This happened to such an extent that already some of our front line staff are saying they did not know how they survived without it!” 

Clinical Director Dr John Parry says the deployment at Scarborough will be the first of many CRV deployments expected in 2012. “The benefits of CRV are obvious. It works with existing systems to give clinicians vital information at the point of care, and also vastly improves efficiency. We already have several more Trusts going through the deployment process and expect to see even more interest as the year progresses.”

 CSC and TPP also had the best service desk results out of all the GPSoC systems, with 100% of service desk calls answered within 180 seconds.

 Shila Patel, manager of the Clinical Systems Analysts at TPP, said these latest statistics showed the level of dedication TPP gives to their customers. “Achieving this kind of performance statistics requires commitment from all of our teams, from our technical team ensuring system availability, to our helpdesk team providing excellent customer service. We’re delighted that this performance report compares us so favourably to the other GPSoC suppliers.” 

For more information see the full statistics here.

 The range of Android tablets currently on the market would give NHS professionals a huge variety of purchasing options without limiting them to a particular brand or size. Available in a range of sizes, from 7 to 10 inch screens, Android tablets could be used for everything from home consultations to bedside prescribing using SystmOne.

 TPP expects to have this SystmOne Android solution completed and tested within the first half of the year. Following a pilot phase it will then become available to users via the Android marketplace. Access to the app would be through the user’s usual username and password meaning no-one could use the app unless they were already a SystmOne user.

 TPP Director Drew Littler believes Android development will be essential for 2012: “Android is everywhere at the minute, it’s technology that people use every day.  The choice of tablets already available also means that buying hardware will be viable and affordable for the NHS. We’re really excited here because we think this Android app will really throw open the world of mobile working for our users, giving them secure access to essential medical information wherever they happen to be working.”

If you have any suggestions about what you want to see at the next conference, please get in touch with the SNUG committee via their website, www.systmoneusergroup.co.uk, or email the committee at committee@systmonenationalusergroup.co.uk.

Further information regarding the programme of events and how to attend will be posted on the SNUG website soon.

SystmOne is already used by GPs in the area in Oxfordshire Urgent Care Centres. As GP practices in and around Oxford begin to move over to SystmOne, the benefits of the shared record will also be realised.

TPP will be the first systems supplier to offer this integrated SCR viewer to GP sites. A third site due to go-live the same week  is an out-of-hours centre in Kirklees, enabling SystmOne urgent care sites to match the functionality already available in other out of hours systems.

This functionality comes at a crucial time for GPs as the Christmas period approaches. The GPs will be able to view the SCR of any patient who visits them as a temporary resident, regardless of which system the patient’s usual GP uses. This view of the patient’s recent medication, allergies and sensitivities will allow the GP to make a more informed choice for treatment and provide reassurance to patients seeking care in an emergency.

 These go-lives will mark the start of a 45 day verification process by Connecting for Health (CfH). After this, TPP will begin the process of offering the functionality to all SystmOne sites.

TPP’s clinical director Dr John Parry, a GP at Holycroft Surgery, who will be switching on SCR viewer on Wednesday 7^th December said “We’re so used to seeing our patient’s full electronic record that it always comes as a disappointment when you get a patient who’s registered temporarily and has no medical information available. The SCR viewer will not only improve patient safety, it will go that step further in helping to connect us to other clinical systems and securely share vital information.”  

Tony Megaw, Assistant Chief Information Officer at NHS Yorkshire and the Humber, described the development as a major step change in interoperability of healthcare systems and delivery of shared health records. “It means that out-of-hours, community and palliative care services in Yorkshire and the Humber using SystmOne will soon have access to key patient medical information, regardless of GP system, helping to improve the quality of care.” The initiative is aligned with the NHS Operating Framework 2012/13 which requires SCRs to be created for patients who have been written to by March 2013. Summary Care Records have already been created for a third of patients in Yorkshire and the Humber (1.7 million) and this figure is scheduled to double by April 2012. Nationally, 10 million SCRs have been created.

TPP are no strangers to a charity campaign. Staff regularly don their trainers, deck themselves in fancy dress and dig deep in their pockets, all in the name of charity. Last year, they gave nearly £20,000 to various charities across the country. This Christmas however, TPP are supporting something a little closer to home.

Instead of the 150 employees purchasing ‘secret santa’ gifts for one another, they’re donating their hard earned cash to Yorkshire based charity Candlelighters Trust. Candlelighters is a charity formed and run by parents of children who have, or have had cancer. The trust is based at the Children’s cancer unit in the Clarendon Wing at Leeds General Infirmary, just four miles from TPP’s offices.

 Candlelighters raise money for cancer research, family support and also vital equipment for the cancer wards. In 2011, the children’s cancer unit was centralised to incorporate the Adolescent cancer unit at LGI. Although the charity has managed to provide some equipment, they still have a ‘wish list’ for the wards that TPP hopes to help with.

 TPP employees are donating to the charity through the website justgiving, at www.justgiving.com/tppxmas.

The total amount raised will be unveiled at the company Christmas party on the 16^th December. Andy Leece, one of TPP’s employees, was involved in choosing the charity: “No-one wants to be in hospital for Christmas, especially if you’re a child. Christmas is supposed to be about fun and laughter and being with your family, we’re hoping to bring a little bit of joy to these children so hopefully they have a little more to smile about this year.”

 Over 300 delegates, (including MPs, Trust executives and senior clinicians) attended the event which was held at the Royal College of Physicians in Regent’s Park. TPP hosted a lunchtime workshop where Dr John Parry discussed ‘The patient record as the conduit for care, quality and efficiency’.

 Videos from the conference can be viewed at www.kingsfund.org.uk/events. TPP would like to thank all those involved in organising such a successful day – we look forward to both sponsoring and attending the conference again next year.

 The improved functionality has been designed in line with requirements set out by Connecting for Health. (CfH) As reflected in the recently published NHS Operating Framework, in the future greater emphasis will be placed on all services to cut waiting times for treatment and provide swift patient access to treatment.

 These new developments will make the recording of referral information much quicker and provide greater flexibility for community staff. Improved reporting functionality within SystmOne also gives staff an overview of RTT activity across a service and assists in monitoring patients who are running close to breaching their 18 week target.

 Following the end of the pilot, TPP will begin rolling out the functionality to all SystmOne Community organisations who request it.

 For more information, contact 0113 20 500 80.