Electronic care records will transform Northern Ireland’s healthcare

Northern Ireland’s doctors and nurses will have more time to spend treating patients and will have access to all the important health and care information they need after the introduction of the electronic care record, writes Edwin Poots
Recently I announced the introduction of a new electronic care records system that will impact on everyone within our health and social care system for the better.

Following a successful pilot involving 9,000 patients I announced the award of a contract with Orion Health to deliver the portal and integration technology behind the NIECR, with a value of approximately £9m over the next seven years.
My main aim was to introduce accurate and accessible patient records to improve quality, speed and the efficiency of healthcare delivery across Northern Ireland.

I want to give our doctors and nurses a window into all the important health and care information that they need to provide the best care for patients. They will be able to look at information currently held in a multitude of different systems across the Northern Ireland health and social care sector, to see details of past or ongoing diagnoses and investigations or treatments.

Currently, whenever a patient is treated in the HSC, a record is kept, often in many different electronic systems such as A&E, laboratory, radiology and in numerous clinical information systems. Now the electronic care record will enable the treating health care professional to access and cross-reference the information they need much more efficiently.

ECR will cut down on time spent searching for appropriate records, allowing clinicians more time to spend treating patients.

I also recognise that data sharing systems can cause some people concerns. Patients must have full confidence in our ability to continue to keep the information we hold about them safely and ensure that any sharing of their information is appropriate and for the direct benefit of their care.

It is important to stress that access will be available only to authorised staff over the secure health and social care network who need to see it to support patient care.

Confidentiality and security of patient information remain a key priority across the HSC and the ECR will have stringent safeguards in place to ensure the continued protection of patient information.

The implementation of the electronic care record will contribute to the delivery of the key proposals within Transforming Your Care. It is about improving the quality, sustainability and safety of patient and client care. I am confident that the electronic care record system will assist in developing a sustainable health care system that delivers now and will continue to deliver in the future for the good of everyone in Northern Ireland.

On a recent visit to the United States I saw at firsthand how electronic records there are being used to intelligently enhance patient safety and quality of care, predict potential illness, maximise uptake of screening programmes and limit adverse drug reactions, using prompts for healthcare workers to intervene. These are exactly the kind of areas where I see the Northern Ireland ECR transforming health care in the province.

This is a new and innovative way of doing things, and an example of how cutting-edge technology, clinical leadership and a collaborative approach can transform information into better care for patients.

When I came to office I said that I would take decisions to ensure that the health service provides for every single person who needs it. It is in the interests of the community that we transform our health and social care services.

I would like to go record and extend my thanks to all those involved in the development and delivery of the electronic care record system and I will be watching its rollout over the coming months with keen interest.

I am confident that we are on the right path to developing a health and social care service which will be sustainable into the future – one which focuses on meeting the needs of our local communities and individual patients and service users.

Edwin Poots is Northern Ireland’s health minister