The NHS are in the midst of paradigm-shifting, quality of care improvements across the entire healthcare system. Although, recently absent within the wider media, the NHS as a whole has made considerable developments in strengthening and enriching the lives of hospital workers; with the nearing introduction of the Encompass system, headlined by EPIC, a globally accredited healthcare software company.
The Encompass team and HSCNI began collaborating on scope and implementation in the midst of the unforeseen global pandemic; as such, they have detailed the specifics of the integrated care system, stating that it intends to allow “patients and their carers the ability to book appointments, review test results and correspondence, and communicate with those providing their care.” This would be unequivocally revolutionary for patients and staff in a healthcare system that has found normalcy incredibly hard to return to since the beginning of the COVID pandemic.
I spoke with Ian Adair, the Principal Critical Care Scientist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, who commented on the exciting proposal in a video interview; stating that “Members of the public, will have access to their records and people will have the ability to log in through said system and view annotated results on any tests conducted by hospital personnel.”
Deidre Gamble, the Chief Critical Care Scientist at the Royal Victoria Hospital, further commented on the matter, stating that “I believe encompass will vastly improve patient care in the theatre environment as the staff will be able to access real time data (patient demographics, test results, co morbidities, allergies etc) allowing for quicker surgeries and less errors. It will also allow for better continuity of care between different areas within the hospital (ED department, ICU, and wards) and for treatment in other trusts in the region.”
If you are interested in further reading on the Encompass System & it’s benefits, please see below:
