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Wales leads the way with electronic dental referrals
Wales is now the first country in the UK to introduce electronic dental referrals across all dental specialities.
The new Dental Referral Management System will allow general dental practitioners (GDPs) to refer patients electronically to primary or secondary care for further treatment.
The web-based system is funded by Welsh Government and provided by FDS Consultants in conjunction with NHS Wales Informatics Service. It replaces traditional paper referrals, minimising the risk of missing information or letters and tackling delays in patients' treatment.
The system initially went live in Swansea Bay and Hywel Dda health boards earlier this year followed by full national rollout by the end of May.
There has been a very high take up with 98.6% of dentists already having used the system. They are reporting that it is easy to use, works well and makes life easier for them, patients and hospital consultants. There has been more than 20,000 referrals sent through the system already.
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"The new system is a much needed step forward to provide an efficient, trackable referral pathway for patients to the full range of specialist services. We look forward to working with NWIS and FDS, as well as the local health boards to ensure that it becomes the best system it can be."
Jonathan Carter - Chairman of Local Dental Committee, Gwent
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The system covers all specialities across primary and secondary care, including:
* Orthodontists
* Oral Surgery
* Oral Maxillofacial Surgery
* Oral Medicine
* Restorative Dentistry
* Community Dental Services (Paediatrics and Special Care)
* Urgent suspected cancers
Referrals can be triaged within the system, ensuring the quality of the information sent to providers is adequate and that patients receive the right care in the right place. For the first time, patients can track their referrals online by entering their unique reference number, keeping them informed and involved in their care.
GDPs are also able to attach high quality radiographs to referrals which can be accessed by specialists, meaning patients don't have to experience repeat radiographs. Health boards will make use of the data collected from electronic referrals to plan and redesign services for the future.
The project has been made possible by collaboration between NHS Wales Informatics Service, Welsh Government, Public Health Wales and health boards.
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General practitioners in Wales are being given viewing access to the national digital patient record, the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP),
improving the patient journey between primary and secondary care.
Until now, the system has only been available to clinicians directly involved with a patient's hospital care.
A selection of GPs in Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board are the first to pilot the service, which will be rolled out nationally depending on the pilot's success.
Dr Niba Shah (above) of Aberdare's Foundry Town Clinic says being given viewing access to the Welsh Clinical Portal has been a "godsend" and enabled her to "spend less time chasing and more time focusing on patient care."
Shah says accessing the WCP allows her to see her patients'
historical results as well as their referral, discharge and clinic letters through the Portal's 'document viewer.' Previously, she wasn't
able to access this information electronically and often had to spend time chasing patient details over the phone.
"The document viewer is the major feature for me," she says. "You're able to check a patient's notes instantaneously and means you don't lose time calling secretaries and chasing letters that are lost in transit."
Sometimes, new patients join a practice and attend appointments without any of their previous medical history or clinic letters. Through the WCP, GPs will no longer have to track this history down because the information is accessible electronically, regardless of the health board within which the patient has previously received treatment.
"We're no longer limited to patient information from our practice or health board," Dr Shah says. "Now it's all Wales."
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Cwm Taf diabetes patients have records go electronic
Diabetes clinicians in Prince Charles Hospital are now using the national Diabetes Consultation Note to record and view patient information within the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP).
Information recorded can be viewed nationally across all health boards ensuring key information relating to the management of the patient's diabetes is visible to clinicians at the point of care.
Diabetes consultants, diabetes specialist nurses and dietitians are among the first set of users to benefit from the functionality in the adult diabetes service. The Diabetes Consultation Note enables them to record and view readings, observations, diagnoses, medication including complex insulin regimens, blood glucose readings, clinical assessments and clinical notes. It also shows them the patient's most recent pathology test results relevant to the management of the condition e.g. HbA1c results. It can be used to support multiple settings in secondary care including outpatient clinics, inpatient stays, telephone contacts and group education.
A .pdf document of the consultation note is created in WCP, and is accessible by clinicians using the system across Wales. As part of the initial pilot, consultants are sending the .pdf document to the patient's GP practice which helps to cut down the delay between a patient being seen in clinic and the GP having a record of what was discussed including changes to medication and insulin regimens.
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"The Welsh Information Solution for Diabetes Management (WISDM) will be a game changer and will bring about a paradigm shift in the way we manage diabetes and maintain patient records. It will bring all health care professionals involved in diabetes care under one roof and will ensure smooth, streamlined and continuous care for our patients. It would also improve communication amongst professionals and help to minimize mistakes. Moreover, the data stored can be used widely for training, audit and research purposes. In a digital world, this is a must and the way to go forward."
Dr Gautam Das - Diabetes Consultant at Cwm Taf's Prince Charles Hospital
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Royal Glamorgan and Withybush will be the next hospitals to adopt the electronic Diabetes Consultation Note. Podiatrists will be the next clinicians to use it, followed by the diabetes paediatric and antenatal services. It is then anticipated that it will be rolled out nationally for all diabetes clinicians across Wales to use.
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Exciting opportunities in data and IT at NHS Wales
Two special recruitment days are taking place to find people skilled in information and technology - the first in at our Cardiff office on 11th September and the next on
18th September in our Mold office.
A range of jobs are on offer as part of a ground-breaking initiative to give health professionals, citizens and patients better access to data.
The search is on for people with an interest in information technology to join a national programme that will revolutionise the way data is shared to improve health and care outcomes for patients and citizens in Wales.
All prospective candidates are invited to attend the open day event, where they will have the chance to speak to current employees and learn more about working for NHS Wales.
"This is a fantastic opportunity for people with an interest in data to make an impact on the way information is used across Welsh health and care organisations," says
Paul Howells, Programme Lead at NHS Wales Informatics Service. "We are developing a really exciting programme which will enable better decision making for clinicians in all parts of our health and care system.
We're recruiting for a range of different positions with varying levels of seniority, so anyone who is looking to develop a career in health and care informatics should come along and find out more."
A similar event is scheduled in our Mold office on 18th September.
There will be an opportunity to apply for some roles on the day, so those interested in attending should bring along their CV and contact details.
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Digital Leaders Wales: Data must drive us forward
Most data-rich organisations also find themselves "information poor", meaning that they are not getting sufficient value from their data.
The next Digital Leaders Wales salon, hosted by University of Swansea's School of Management will address this problem and highlight how we all need to be able to manage the data we collect and translate it into relevant, useful information.
Lead discussants will include our Director of Information, Helen Thomas, along with David Ford, Professor of Health Informatics and a Director of Administrative Data Research Wales and a Co-Director of the SAIL Databank at Swansea University and a representative from the ONS.
The salon, held at Swansea University, is a free event and held on Wednesday, 25th September at 5pm. To register for the event, or for more information,
head to the Digital Leaders website.
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A two-day connectathon
If you are a healthcare organisation or software vendor who needs to manage and implement complex code systems such as SNOMED CT or any of the Health and Social Care Code Systems, an upcoming "connectathon" might be for you.
NHS Digital and NHS Wales Informatics Service is organising a two-day event on 2nd and 3rd October Terminology Services Connectathon at Cardiff City Football Stadium.
Though the event is
primarily for developers, and facilitated by developers, the introductory plenary on the first morning is suitable for those in policy and planning, information management, programme management, clinical informaticians and analytical roles.
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