People in the Thames Valley and Surrey area will be able to access their records and use digital services and apps that directly support them to manage their own health and wellbeing thanks to a new partnership between the Thames Valley and Surrey (TVS) Care Records Partnership and the System C and Graphnet Care Alliance.
The TVS Care Records Partnership has signed a contract with the System C and Graphnet Care Alliance to provide a new region‐wide shared record platform and population health system. The £12.5 million contract will be for seven years. Their aim is to drive improvements in care by building‐on and joining‐up existing shared care records across the region.
Graphnet will work with the TVS Care Records Partnership to put in place a range of software and services to enable the safe and secure sharing of an individual’s health and care information as they move between different parts of the health and care system within the Thames Valley and Surrey. It will also enable an individual’s record to be shared for specific care purposes if they need treatment further afield.
The technology tools will also help strengthen population health management in support of direct care – for example helping devise new, improved pathways for the treatment of people with diabetes, cancer, and mental health illness. This will support the work of integrated care systems in understanding the needs of local populations as a whole, and identify recommended actions identified to improve clinical outcomes. Underpinning the whole solution will be Graphnet’s CareCentric shared record platform. This will use national interoperability standards to integrate data from the existing local care records in Thames Valley and Surrey and will give authorised health and care professionals across the region access to crucial patient information quickly. It will allow them to access information from patient histories or previous test results and care plans so they can determine the right action as quickly as possible, whether that is urgent tests or a referral to a specialist.
Fiona Edwards, Chair of the TVS Programme Board and Leader of the Frimley Integrated Care System (ICS) said:
“The procurement is a significant step forward in achieving our ambition to use the potential of digital technology to make real improvements to the way people are cared for and are able to look after their own health. We wanted to find a technology partner who shared our vision and put a number of suppliers through a very rigorous process to find the right people who shared our ambition and desire to work in partnership and collaborate.”
Brian Waters, Chief Executive of Graphnet, commented:
“The System C and Graphnet Care Alliance has been working hard on delivering shared records since Graphnet’s first major deployment over 15 years ago and we now manage records for 13m citizens. The scope of this contract puts record sharing at the centre of plans to transform care right across the Thames Valley and Surrey area, with big benefits to citizens and to the health and social services themselves. We are delighted to be partnering with Thames Valley and Surrey on this programme.”
The TVS Care Records Partnership formed in the summer of last year, after being awarded £7.5 million funding as one of five initial NHS England Local Health and Care Record Exemplars (LHCRE). It serves a total population of 3.8 million.
The partnership is not a standalone organisation. It is a working agreement that enables people and health and care organisations, such as NHS hospitals, GPs, local councils, patients and staff to come together to discuss and identify what matters to them so that the right solutions are in place by 2020.
