NHS Arden & GEM’s GPIT service supported Trinity Medical Practice in Mid and South Essex ICB to quickly and effectively migrate to a new clincial system within just 12 weeks.
As a result of clear objectives, robust project management and forming strong collaborative working relationships with both the ICB and practice, the project was successfully delivered within budget, on time and to the highest standard.
All GP practices in the ICB are now using the same clinical system which has marked a significant milestone in the development of integrated care in the region. Service providers across primary, community and acute care can now share records and communicate more seamlessly using the tools available within SystmOne.
The challenge
Trinity Medical Practice is a GP practice based in Mayland, Essex and currently serves approximately 4,300 patients. While the 148 other GP practices under contract to NHS Mid and South Essex ICB all used the clincial system, TPP SystmOne, Trinity Medical Practice had remained with their longstanding supplier, Cegedim, as they were happy with the system and its funcitonality. However, Cegedim advised the practice that their system, Vision, would no longer be available for use in England as of 31 October 2024.
This decision meant that the small practice with limited staff members would need to complete a full clinical system migration within a short timeframe. With significant experience of supporting practices with clincial system migration, NHS Arden & GEM’s GPIT service was able to quickly appoint a project team and devise a proposal that would ensure the change was delivered safely and successfully.
Our approach
A project manager was assigned to lead the project, with support from a project engineer and clinical systems trainers. The project team devised a proposal outlining all tasks, responsibilities and commitments for NHS Mid and South Essex ICB.
Collaborating with practice staff
Working in close collaboration with practice staff, in particular the practice project lead, would be key to ensuring the correct bespoke solution was successfully implemented.
A face to face ‘kick off’ meeting was arranged to enable the project team and practice staff to begin building productive working relationships. The session also allowed the project team to familiarise themselves with the layout of the practice.
Regular project update meetings took place, along with the sharing of relevant project documentation, to ensure that stakeholders were kept informed of progress. Any issues were quickly escalated to the Project Board and decisions on how to proceed effectively implemented. Open and regular communication between the project team, practice project lead and ICB ensured that the practice staff remained engaged, and understood the aims and the benefits of the migration.
Managing suppliers
With three suppliers involved in the migration - TPP, Cegedim and Docman - agreeing and keeping to dates for tasks to be completed was crucial to achieving the tight schedule. Docman was the practice’s supplier for document management but, with this functionality available in SystmOne, the service was no longer needed. By outlining responsibilities early on in the process, providing regular assurance on migration progress and ensuring open channels of communication, relationships between all stakeholders could be carefully managed for a successful end result.
Building a bespoke training plan
Clinical systems trainers worked closely with practice staff throughout the whole migration to understand business change processes and build these requirements into the training plan. The training plan took account of staff members, their training needs and the optimal delivery method.
The team was also on hand before the go-live date to provide training days and onsite during the go-live week to provide support and ensure staff queries were resolved quickly, minimising disruption to patients.
The outcomes
As a result of clear objectives, robust project management and forming strong collaborative working relationships with both the ICB and practice, the project was successfully delivered within budget, on time and to the highest standard. The project was well received by the practice project lead and practice staff.
100% of GP practices in Mid and South Essex ICB are now using SystmOne. This marks a significant milestone in the development of integrated care in the region and a culmination of many years hard work.
All GP practices can now share patient records with each other, and with community providers, out-of-hours providers, hospices and acute services across the ICS. Teams in these different care settings can work seamlessly together, using the integrated communication tools within SystmOne.
"While the timescales for moving to a new clinical system were beyond our control, the knowledge and support provided by the Arden & GEM GPIT service made the transition simpler and more successful than we anticipated.
Regular communication and project update meetings ensured that not only did we fully understand what we needed to do but we also had confidence that other stakeholders were meeting their responsibilities."
Paul Rhodes, Practice Project Lead at Trinity Medical Practice
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