SE Essex develops end of life register

NHS South East Essex has launched an electronic record for end of life patients using TPP’s SystmOne.

Primary care trust clinical lead David Allan-Smith said the End of Life Register went live a month ago, and is now providing real-time access to information for out-of-hours staff.

The PCT’s palliative care unit was established about five months ago to identify patients expected to live for a year or less.

Patients referred to the unit’s end of life case managers are registered on SystmOne.

Their care wishes are recorded, and information sharing invitations are sent to providers likely to be involved in the patient’s care.

A notification is also sent to the out-of-hours service, where it is logged on the Adastra system. When the patient next calls the out-of-hours service, Adastra will highlight that the record exists.

Staff can then access a summary view including medications, preferred place of care, and a timetable of community visits.

If a doctor is dispatched to see the patient, this information can be extracted and sent to them by email. A message will be sent to other providers to say there has been contact.

Out-of-hours doctors can only view the record, while other providers using SystmOne can both view and contribute to it with patient consent.

Allan-Smith said between 300-400 records had been created, which is “probably not far off the total number”.

He added that the benefits of the register include a big reduction in duplicated record keeping, and better information and communication for those caring for patients.

About 80% of practices in the PCT are using SystmOne. End of life facilitators are liaising with EMIS practices about sharing their patient information, but it had to be inputted into the system, Allan-Smith said.

The PCT hopes to get the local hospice on board; but at the moment it is using a non-compatible system.

NHS South East Essex has been working on a number of shared records for patients on different care pathways, including those living with COPD.