Patients of the largest GP practice in Wiltshire are benefiting from the implementation of SystmOne. The Avenue Surgery Partnership, The Avenue, Warminster, has 16,500 patients on its books and went live on SystmOne on 8th December 2006 - the first practice in Wiltshire Primary Care Trust to do so.
The vision of NHS Connecting for Health and of TPP is to create a computer network linking every clinician across the country. This network means that wherever a patient needs care, whether at the GP's surgery, at an Out-of-Hours unit, or even at an Accident and Emergency department, a full patient record is available. GP practices throughout England are being encouraged to take up accredited computer systems as part of the National Programme for IT (NPfIT). With over 1,200 healthcare units in England and Wales using SystmOne, including GP, Child Health, Community, and A&E, and many more deployments in the pipeline, the vision of integrated patient care is fast becoming reality.
The staff of 43 at The Avenue Surgery picked SystmOne after considering all the systems on offer. Peter Williams, Senior Manager, explains why: "We considered all of the available alternatives. None of the others came close to SystmOne in terms of its capabilities - it's up-to-date and user friendly. In addition, when the future plan for a single NHS care record is implemented in about two years, we will be able to make this available to our patients with SystmOne."
What does SystmOne mean for Warminster patients? It means better, more efficient care. When healthcare units use SystmOne, all it takes is a few clicks of the mouse to see an up-to-date, complete patient record, allowing the medical team to make care decisions based on the maximum information available.
Traditionally, when a patient changes GP, sees the doctor on holiday or at university, or ends up in an Accident and Emergency department, the length of their consultation increases because of the number of necessary questions about their medical history. It can take weeks for the patient's records to arrive where they are needed. With SystmOne, the record is available instantly. Patients can be safe in the knowledge that only practice staff with relevant access rights can access their information and that full audit trails exist to monitor every record - something that simply cannot happen with paper records.
There are non-clinical benefits too - SystmOne makes patients' lives easier by giving them the ability to skip the queue at reception by using the self check-in facility, and soon, they'll be able to receive mobile phone text messages to remind them about their appointments.
As SystmOne's coverage increases, patients can be reassured that wherever they need care, clinicians will have access to their record. Working with the NHS, clinicians and other healthcare professionals, TPP is moving towards achieving the SystmOne vision: one patient, one record. The Avenue Surgery Partnership has now made that vision one practice closer to reality.
About The Avenue Surgery PartnershipThe Avenue Surgery Partnership, Warminster, is a traditional General Practice, which aims to offer the highest standards of family medicine from modern premises. All our doctors are fully trained GPs. Many have individually developed special interests in various fields of medicine and they share this expertise with the other Doctors. Like all GP practices, we are an independent small-business. We have a NHS General Medical Services contract that enables us to provide medical services free of charge to our registered patients and others who meet the registration criteria for the NHS. We are committed to the concept of a paper-free service for our patients and embracing the opportunities that modern technology offers to provide prompt efficient services as close to our patients as possible. For further information visit www.avenuesurgery.co.uk
