Digital patient records rolled out to all NI trusts

Every person in Northern Ireland who receives health and social care will now have a digital care record as all Northern Ireland's health trusts implement encompass.

The new electronic patient record system has been rolled out over the past 18 months, with the Western and Southern Trusts going live on Thursday.

It aims to create better experiences for patients, service users and staff by bringing together information from various existing systems that do not currently communicate effectively.

The Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said the full roll-out of encompass "puts Northern Ireland at the forefront of health service delivery".

Patients and service users across Northern Ireland will be able to access their health information online via a patient portal called My Care.

It is available via app or webpage, and it enables patients and service users to play a more active role in their care.

Nesbitt said the implementation of encompass has been a "concerted effort across the whole of the Health and Social Care system" since it was first announced in 2020.

"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and has allowed Northern Ireland to modernise our systems and fundamentally improve how we deliver care," he said.

Tom Simpson, the Department of Health's Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer and Director of Digital Health and Care Northern Ireland, said it was a "really important day for the transformation of our Health and Care sector".

"This isn't just a new IT system; it is about changing how the sector works so that our staff have the right tools to deliver the best service for all in Northern Ireland," he said.

"Encompass streamlines how care is delivered by giving care workers quick access to the right information at the right time.

"It eliminates heavy paper records, reduces repeat tests and helps hospital-based pharmacists manage medicines more safely."

He said it also provides better quality data to help improve services for the future and achieve better outcomes.

Dr Dermot Hughes is the Senior Responsible Owner for the encompass project.

"This completes the roll-out of a single, unified digital care record across each health and social care trust in Northern Ireland," he said.

"Encompass will transform how we deliver care by making it safer, more connected and more patient-centric and by ensuring that the right information is available at the right time."

He said it would "transform" the patient's experience and information.

He said it was a "proud day" for the health and social care service.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme, Dr Hughes said the previous rollouts make the final two more straightforward, but he did appeal to the public to be patient.

"We have done this three times previously, so we are getting better at it.

"This is the biggest transformation in healthcare we have ever experienced, it takes people time to get used to the system so there is an inherent slowing down of activity.

"There is no slowing down on scheduled care, the emergency department or maternity care but in some outpatients' services, staff numbers will be reduced," he said.

Dr Hughes said that health professionals from across the world will be in the Western and Southern Trusts to help support the system going live.

"This is change of monumental nature.

"It does take all Trusts a period of two years with the getting the system in and stabilised.

"It wouldn't happen without staff commitment", he said.