One year on from the launch of the Universal Care Plan across London over 24,000 new care plans have been created on the platform and frontline staff viewed care plans over 300,000 times.
This is helping to ensure people get better personalised care and support and that their care preferences are respected.
The Universal Care Plan (UCP) was deployed in just seven months.
It is an integrated care planning solution that enables every Londoner to have their key health and social care information, support network, and preferences for wishes about their care digitally shared with healthcare professionals across the Capital.
The technology, implemented by OneLondon and provided by Better, supports a population of approximately 10 million people, five Integrated Care Systems (ICSs), more than 40 NHS trusts, 1,400 general practices, and 33 local authorities.
Joseph Fraser, Head of personalised Care Expansion in London, NHS England said:
“This is an opportunity to move away from a narrow acute clinical model that treats one condition at a time, to a holistic approach that acknowledges the complexity of people’s lives and addresses those challenges in partnership.
“For people with long-term conditions, this will enable a much higher quality of care suited to their needs, better outcomes, and higher value engagement with healthcare.
“In short, the Universal Care Plan is the foundation stone of an NHS that’s fit for the challenges of the 21st Century.”
Initially supporting End-of-Life Care planning, the Universal Care Plan enables critical patient choice information to be captured and shared easily across all point-of-care systems.
It is helping to ensure that more patients receive the care and outcomes they desire when they reach the end of their life including being able to die in their preferred setting.
Previously, care plans were not consistently connected or accessible between care providers.
However, with the implementation of the Universal Care Plan, patient care and treatment preferences can now be easily viewed by health and care professionals across London’s vast health and care network.
More than 24,000 new personalised care plans have now been created, and health professionals have viewed care plans over 300,000 times.
The high levels of usage are a result of the integration with the major systems in use across London care providers, including the London Care Record, EMIS, SystmOne, Cleric ePCR, and Adastra.
Further integrations are either underway or in the planning stages for Epic, Rio, and Cerner Millennium.
This year, the Universal Care Plan will integrate with the NHS App to allow patients access to their care plans and to link with a GP data system, in order to provide access to medication and allergies data.
Work is also underway to launch the platform within the National Record Locator this year.
This means that Londoners with a UCP care plan will have their preferences and wishes of care accessible to urgent care services regardless of location in England.
While the UCP currently supports pathways for urgent and end-of-life care, following its success and positive feedback from healthcare staff, the clinical networks across London are engaged to expand its use to other areas of care including supporting patients with diabetes, dementia, and cardiovascular disease.
There are also extensive opportunities across many other areas, including sickle cell disease and asthma, and for supporting patients with frailty, mental health needs, learning disabilities, and autism, as well as for supporting children and young people.
The ultimate goal is to provide better, digitalised healthcare for all conditions and population groups across all health services and enable personalised care planning for patients across London.
Alastair Allen, Chief Technology Officer at Better, said: We are excited to witness how the Better platform will continue to support Londoners, their families, and professionals alike.
“By leveraging the power of this technology, we are empowering the healthcare ecosystem to provide more efficient, personalised, and compassionate care to those in need.”
Murrae Tolson, Programme Director, Universal Care Plan, added:
“This is a remarkable achievement that not only enables more individuals access to personalised care and support when they need it most, but it also gives healthcare practitioners the confidence that they are acting in line with their patients’ wishes.
“Together, we have harnessed the potential of technology to facilitate compassionate care, ensuring that a patient’s choice remains paramount.”
