Matt Edgar: "This reflection by primary and…" - mastodon.me.uk

Matt Edgar @mattedgar@mastodon.me.uk

This reflection by primary and secondary care clinicians discovering each others' contexts of use should be required reading for anyone working with #DigitalHealth https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n3005

Observing the multiple hospital IT systems at work—that didn’t always link with each other, or with primary care—gave me an appreciation of how lucky I am to have one comprehensive IT system in my GP surgery. After seeing this—and knowing that I have access to a patient’s whole medical record—I now write more detailed referral letters to support my secondary care colleagues. This has become even more important during the pandemic as many patient journeys are more fragmented, with multiple agency contacts all under the umbrella of the NHS—for example, 111, NHS Test and Trace, emergency departments, out of hours services, and hot clinics.

I was humbled by how much clinical uncertainty GPs live with as a consequence of their limited access to investigations and the absence of or delay in communication from secondary care in the form of outpatient letters or discharge summaries.

I was impressed by how much information about a patient’s baseline function and social circumstances GPs know or have in their electronic health records, but this is often not sought in secondary care.

Dec 29, 2021, 09:17 AM·

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