Large Scale NHS England Data Programmes

Enhancing patient accessibility as part of the National Record Locator and National Event Management Service.

The client: NHS England

Between 2017 and 2023, Answer Digital partnered with NHS England to work on two major national data initiatives: the National Record Locator (NRL) and the National Event Management Service (NEMS). These two critical services improve the availability and flow of patient data across different health and social care settings, providing vital support for clinicians in making informed decisions.

Enhancing patient record accessibility

Before the introduction of NRL and NEMS, healthcare professionals faced significant challenges in accessing comprehensive patient records, especially when those patients were seen in different care settings. Due to a lack of data sharing agreements, disparate and disconnected data led to delayed or inconsistent information sharing, ultimately affecting patient care.

Some of the key challenges included:

Lack of a centralised system

Limited event notification

Compliance with regulatory frameworks

Improving access to care

The National Record Locator (NRL) is a federated service designed to help healthcare professionals search for and access patient records across different organisations, regardless of where the care took place. Answer Digital partnered with NHS England from the beginning of the NRL project in 2017, first delivering the service within the NHS Spine and later leading a tech uplift to a cloud-based solution. A key aspect of Answer’s involvement was the creation of a national data-sharing agreement and the design of the system's data model and interfaces.

Answer Digital played a pivotal role in integrating the NRL with existing Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems used by all NHS trusts and shared care records. At the time of Answer’s work, the system connected over 400,000 data sources, ensuring that clinicians had real-time access to critical patient information, including mental health crisis plans. This integration improved patient care, with an average of 4,000 access requests being made each day.

In addition to integration and secure access, Answer Digital supported NHS England in scaling the NRL infrastructure, ensuring the system could handle millions of records from hundreds of providers while remaining responsive and efficient. The scalability ensured the platform could grow and meet the increasing demand for real-time healthcare data access across the UK.

Enhancing communication and coordination across the NHS

NRL and NEMS have now been rolled out across multiple healthcare settings in England, supporting a wide range of care providers and offering access to millions of records. The partnership between Answer Digital and NHS England delivered many improvements in the way that patient information is governed, accessed and shared, leading to more efficient, coordinated, and safe care.

This partnership played a major part in the successful development and deployment of the NRL and NEMS. These solutions have not only simplified patient data access but have also enhanced communication and coordination across the NHS, resulting in improved care delivery and patient outcomes.

Through our innovative approach, Answer Digital has helped NHS England address some of the most pressing challenges and has aided in providing joined-up personalised care for millions.

Streamlining the delivery of NEMS

NEMS is an event-driven architecture that notifies healthcare professionals about critical patient events such as administration of vaccinations, change of address, or deaths.

The system development was started before Answer’s involvement, but as a direct result of our success on NRL we were asked to support the NEMS project from 2018. The objective was to streamline and drive the delivery of the service, highlighting risks and potential solutions, and introducing an improved architecture and messaging plan.

Key elements of NEMS include:

Real-time event notifications: By integrating with healthcare providers, NEMS delivers instant notifications to GPs and care teams within other health care settings, improving coordination of care.

Streamlining communication: NEMS ensures that patient information is delivered seamlessly across various healthcare settings, helping providers respond to events quickly and accurately. At the time of Answer’s involvement over 87,000 outgoing messages were managed every day.

Improved care continuity: With the support of NEMS, clinicians can provide continuity of care, reducing the chances of missed follow-up appointments or readmissions due to poor communication between care teams.

Key benefits

With the help of Answer, NRL and NEMS brought about several important improvements across the NHS:

Faster access to patient records: NRL provides clinicians with a consolidated view of patient records across different organisations, leading to better decision-making, more personalised care, time saved for ambulance crews and a reduction in unnecessary hospital admissions.

Improved communication and coordination: NEMS ensures that healthcare teams are notified in real-time about patient events, which significantly enhances coordination between primary and secondary care providers.

Reduced administrative burden: Automated notifications through NEMS and real-time access via NRL reduces the manual effort required to track patient information, allowing clinicians to focus on patient care.

Enhanced patient safety: With quick access to records and event notifications, clinicians can act on critical information faster, leading to better outcomes for patients, especially in emergency scenarios.

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