North Staffordshire trust gets real-time access to patient data

University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust has deployed a system that allows it to access patient demographics data in real-time. The trust previously had no direct access to the NHS's Personal Demographics Service and relied on a weekly Demographics Batch Service tracing process, which limited the efficiency of patient data updates. The trust is now using Quicksilva's orQestra software, which it rolled out in early December when it began a 45 day pilot. The new system allows NHS numbers to be verified and updated automatically on a daily basis, meaning the trust's records can be amended faster and more accurately than previously. Rebecca Gallimore, deputy head of ICT at the trust, told Guardian Government Computing: "Going forward, this is the basis of the trust's strategy to provide access to the data across local NHS organisations, and to ensure the data is validated in real time. "We purchased the software to enable us to reach a point in the future where we ensure acute trust data is consistent across primary care trusts and community services." John Barlow, application support and development manager at the trust, said: "This is the first of three or four phases of this implementation. The second phase is due to start within the next couple of months, which will give us real time access to the Spine from our patient management system. "And then this information will be dispersed across the trust's disparate systems, namely pharmacology, radiology, etc, by the integration engine." This article is published by Guardian Professional. For updates on public sector IT, join the Government Computing Network here.