Tower Hamlets goes live with e-SAP

Tags: CfH e-SAP elderly feedback information sharing London Mental Health PCT Social care

19 Sep 2006

Tower Hamlets Primary Care Trust has become the first London trust to implement new electronic Single Assessment Process (e-SAP) software, allowing its NHS and social services staff to share care records electronically.

e-SAP is NHS Connecting for Health’s project for joint electronic health and social care assessment and care planning for individuals. In the future it is intended that the system will work in conjunction with the NHS Care Records Service (CRS) and the Electronic Social Care (ESC) Record.

The system was first implemented in June and over 200 staff have now been trained to use the software to speed up communication across Tower Hamlets, improve information sharing and avoid unnecessary duplication and contacts with patients.

Polly Wicks, Tower Hamlets Social Services SAP project manager told E-Health Insider: “This is a big advance for us; being able to share this information will help in all kinds of ways. We’re getting very positive responses from staff across the borough and the system saves them so much time in not having to look through paperwork for information.”

The trust was already using the single assessment process through paper and fax before switching to the new electronic format and argue that the technology enables staff to access information they need more quickly.

They are now trialling e-SAP for the London cluster of Connecting for Health and are providing feedback to CfH as well as to BT, who implemented the system.

Wicks added: “The most noticeable benefit is we can access the system 24/7 and update it with all the latest notes for anyone registered to see within the local authority social services team, the hospital elderly persons team, at the PCT the contact centres devoted to people who use our care and by specific staff on duty at A & E.”

The e-SAP system is secure, say CfH, as staff log on using smartcards that hold information on the owner of the card, and restrict viewing rights according to your role within the company. Unauthorised attempts to access patient information are recorded and shown on the system’s audit report.

The smartcard will also enable information to be verified and shared using the NHS’s national data Spine service.

Fiona Danks, manager of an elderly people’s rehabilitation ward said: “We had teething problems with the number of emails that kept landing in our inboxes, but that was a problem with the way the system was set up. We got that sorted out quite quickly.

“It’s really starting to happen with e-SAP. It’s working well. As more people start to use the system, it will become even more useful.”

Richard Fradgley, general manager of the East London and the City Mental Health Trust added: “e-SAP isn’t yet fully populated, but once it’s up and running, we can see that there will be benefits for service users and for staff in being able to share information with our partners across the borough.”

Phase two of the project in the trust is expected to take place later this year, with double the amount of users taking advantage of the system.

A spokesperson for Connecting for Health London told EHI: “e-SAP has been very well received at Tower Hamlets and on the back of this; we are in talks with several organisations about the possibility of them going live with e-SAP within the next year.”

Reader's Comments

A winner !

19 Sep 06 07:09

If this is a workable solution , and it seems like it is. Then this should be trumpeted form the rooftops. At last "joined up thinking" and a CfH success in the same way as SBS and ESR which seem to get forgotton as they are not pure CfH applications.

er is it ?

19 Sep 06 16:09

Celebrate success, yes, but a 200 user system is a small beginning, and there are a number of successful non-CfH eSAP implementations that have gone much further.

Report suggests they are using Smartcards for authentication, but looks like patient/client spine verification is a future enhancement. It doesn't mention being joined up with GP systems, Social Care, or other Clinical Systems. Just a nebular future plan for CRS and ESC Records.

And is this an interim solution until London implements Cerner, or will individual users then be juggling between the different systems ?

Not joined up thinking at all really. Fanfare somewhat premature.

It just might be!!

20 Sep 06 10:09

I have heard a lot about this deployment and have to say it sounds extremely interesting. It IS Spine compliant, and using PDS, and does control access to client records through legitimate relationships etc. More interestingly, it has been implemented over a number of different organizations in Health and Social Care and seems to be one of the first times NHS CFH have deployed a system which fully complies to their vision of an integrated solution across care boundaries. This was just the first deployment, but I understand there are more deployments in progress, all of which will allow access to the same shared patient/service user record across the community - uniting Local Authority, Social Services, PCT and Acute sector users…. So actually far more joined up than many other implementations both within and outside NPfIT!

This solution is already showing positive benefits, and far from feeling that CfH are celebrating success to early, I am surprised at their reticence. I would have though both CfH and BT should be shouting about this successful project far and wide!

But is it the only winner?

22 Sep 06 10:09

Congratulations to the Tower Hamlets Team, but I wonder if some recognition of what we in the NE and E Clusters have been doing for the past 2 years to deliver eSAP might be appropriate?

More than 1 success

22 Sep 06 18:09

This deployment of eSAP in London may be the first for their cluster, but successful deployments have taken place all over the country. Both the NE Cluster and Eastern Cluster have successfully deployed. The Eastern Cluster has over a 1000 users of eSAP in Hertfordshire. Deployments began in February 2005. eSAP seem to be a product that can successfully deployed and YES, it should be shouted from the rooftops!