EPR NEWSLETTER
11 WEEKS TO GO Are you ready?
Monday 5 February 2024 Issue 5
74
DAYS TO GO
Nigel Lee, Director of Strategy and Partnerships
Joshua Pagden, Chief Nursing Information Officer
Rebecca Gallimore, Director of Digital Transformation
Dr Shakawan Ismaeel, Chief Clinical Information Officer
Dr Sevina Tzortzis, Chief Clinical Information Officer
Welcome to the fifth edition of the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) programme newsletter. We have now completed the third round of User Acceptance Testing. A big thank you to all our testers, it is so important to have everyone involved in the patient pathway, test the system and make sure it works the way we want it to. We are pleased to see training compliance increasing week by week. Managers, please allow time for all colleagues to complete the training. We need to ensure all colleagues are ready for the Go Live weekend (Friday 19 April-Sunday 21 April). The Digital Team will be visiting RSH on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 February and PRH on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 February to answer all your EPR questions. Please feel free to ask them all your questions about the digital changes that will affect you and the digital improvements that are happening over the coming months. Find out more on the Intranet.
Have you booked to attend the Digital Health Forum on Thursday 22 February, email sath.digitaladminteam@nhs.net to register.
Clinic Freeze We need your help in order to prepare for the cutover weekend on Friday 19 – Sunday 21 April. In order to enable a smooth transition between the two systems, we are looking at our current clinics in SemaHelix and mirroring them exactly in CareFlow. This will reduce the number of appointments that fail to migrate. High numbers of dropped appointments will cause confusion and negatively impact our patients and colleagues. If this is not done exactly then we run the risk of the incorrect clinic status being set and a cancelled clinic showing as available. This could result in patients being given appointments in a cancelled clinic. For this reason, we are implementing a six week freeze to clinic changes.
From Friday 8 March – Friday 19 April only critical changes will be allowed. We need your help to review your clinics and agree changes (annual leave etc) with your team prior to Friday 8 March, to avoid the risk of human error due to maintaining both systems. Any non-critical clinic change request during the freeze period can be actioned after CareFlow Go Live. Throughout this period there will be no impact on booking appointments, these can continue as usual.
digital.sath.nhs.uk We need you!
Go Live Weekend There will be a period of downtime during Friday 19 AprilSunday 21 April, known as a ‘cutover’ weekend. At 5pm on Friday 19 April, SemaHelix and associated systems will be switched off and business continuity plans will be activated. There is then a period of time where all data (66 million records) is migrated, systems are checked and activity from the downtime period is updated. CareFlow will then go live for users on the Sunday, subject to confirmation. During this time, command and control rooms will be running at both sites to provide central points for coordinating activities and issue resolution. Floorwalkers and Change agents will support frontline teams and provide a route for communication back to the control room. Planned activity is being reduced for two weeks from the 19 April, to give staff more capacity as they become familiar with the new systems and processes. This reduction is recommended by NHSE, following lessons learnt during other EPR implementations.
During Go Live weekend, we need Floorwalkers and admin colleagues to ensure a smooth transition from SemaHelix to CareFlow. You will be assigned to a clinical area to provide support from that team. This can be a range of tasks from helping with expected issues (e.g login issue) to being a point of escalation. All Floorwalkers will be given training. Whoever you are, whatever your skills or availability, you can help! If you’re interested in being a part of this historic event, please contact Sath.eprprogrammepmo@nhs.net
Have you completed your training? We have been working towards 50% training compliance by the end of January. By the end of this month that target will increase to 70%. It is vital that your division is trained and ready for the Go Live weekend. Please can managers allow their colleagues to have dedicated time to complete their training. There are many different types of training, face to face sessions, e-learning and supported e-learning. Your LMS will show you what training you need, based on your role. If you’re unsure, or have any questions then please email the team on sath.ittrainingteam@nhs.net.
Change Agent Emma Grove, Ophthalmology Co-ordinator Head, Neck & Ophthalmology Services Emma is one of the Change Agents for Ophthalmology. She said: “We are all going to be in the same boat together with the new system and that’s re-assuring. I am also reassured by the consideration given to reducing capacity over the initial go-live. “Role based access will be changed and that might be hard for people who have legacy access on SEMA from being in various roles, but now it will be restricted to role based and I believe that will actually bring better control and clarity.” If you’re a Change Agent and need any more information or support, email sath.askepr@nhs.net.