Monday 01 December 2025
Internal Reference Number: FOI_8866
Date Request Received: 20/08/2025 00:00:00
Date Request Replied To: 03/09/2025 00:00:00
This response was sent via: By Email
Request Summary: Access to Clinical Information Systems
Request Category: Companies
| Question Number 1: Context for the request The Requestor is developing a new healthcare platform based on UK Core FHIR, which is intended to help the NHS deliver on the goals set out in the NHS 10 year plan. The Requestor wants to connect to the systems of record in the NHS to enable the delivery of use cases like the examples below. a) Clinical Pathways Across Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Care Problem: Patients with complex or long-term conditions often experience fragmented care across GP practices, hospitals, and specialist services. Lack of integration leads to repeated tests, inconsistent treatment plans, and delayed interventions. Solution: The platform enables unified, cross-setting clinical pathways, allowing care teams across primary, secondary, and tertiary settings to follow standardized, evidence-based workflows. Clinicians can see the complete patient journey, schedule interventions appropriately, and collaborate seamlessly across care boundaries. NHS Alignment: Supports the hospital-to-community shift, integrated care pathways, and digitally-enabled care, reducing unwarranted variation and improving patient outcomes. b) Better Quality Referrals Problem: Referral processes between GPs and hospitals are often inconsistent, incomplete, or delayed, leading to repeated information requests, longer waiting times, and sometimes incorrect triaging. Solution: The platform validates referral data automatically, ensures all required information is included, and routes it to the correct service. It tracks the referral in real-time, enabling GPs and hospitals to see its status and avoid duplication. NHS Alignment: Addresses NHS priorities of efficiency, reducing unnecessary delays, hospital-to-community collaboration, and improving patient experience. c) Discharge Summaries Problem: Discharge summaries are frequently delayed or incomplete, leaving primary care clinicians without critical information about hospital stays, medications, or follow-up plans. This can result in poor continuity of care and increased readmissions. Solution: The platform automates and standardizes the creation and delivery of discharge summaries, ensuring GPs and community services receive accurate, complete, and timely information immediately upon patient discharge. NHS Alignment: Supports patient safety, continuity of care, and the hospital-to-community shift, while reducing administrative burden on hospital staff. d) Level Playing Field for HealthTech Startups Problem: Startups and SMEs face fragmented NHS IT systems, inconsistent APIs, and vendor-specific barriers, making integration costly and slow. This stifles innovation and limits the adoption of new digital health solutions. Solution: The platform acts as a consistent FHIR-based integration layer, allowing third-party apps to plug in once and access multiple systems securely, without vendor lock-in. This reduces technical barriers and accelerates digital innovation. NHS Alignment: Promotes digital innovation, open standards adoption, and equitable access for startups, aligning with NHS policy goals to modernize care and create an ecosystem that encourages innovation while maintaining safety and interoperability. 1. Access to Testing Clinical Information Systems o What is the approval process by which an external organisation may apply or request to connect with the trust's test clinical systems of record. (e.g. EMR, EHR, PACS) o Which internal teams, roles, or committees are responsible for approving such a connection? o What steps are involved in obtaining the necessary permissions or agreements to establish such a connection? o What is the entry point for this process? e.g. email address or webform. | |
| Answer To Question 1: The Trust only allows organisations to connect to test or production systems when we have chosen to procure or pilot a product. We would normally have a requirement or have identified an opportunity to go to the market for. A business case would then be developed which will be taken through our internal governance for approval to undertake the pilot and/or procure the product. The procurement team alongside the digital team will undertake a DTAC (digital technology assessment criteria) which includes completion of necessary information governance, data protection, cyber security and digital clinical safety assessments and assurance. Often there will also require conversations with the third party supplier in question where we want to create the integration with as there might be costs their end. The entry point is normally a case for change being raised through our internal systems. Invariable the owners of the core IT systems is the digital team centrally. | |
| Question Number 2: 2. Access to Production Clinical Information Systems o What is the approval process by which an external organisation may apply or request to connect with the trust's production clinical systems of record. (e.g. EMR, EHR, PACS) o Which internal teams, roles, or committees are responsible for approving such a connection? o What steps are involved in obtaining the necessary permissions or agreements to establish such a connection? o What is the entry point for this process? e.g. email address or webform. At this point we’re not asking for information regarding the technical specifics of the trust's internal systems. We are only requesting information on the trust's approval and decision making processes | |
| Answer To Question 2: As above | |
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Our staff at Salisbury District Hospital have long been well regarded for the quality of care and treatment they provide for our patients and for their innovation, commitment and professionalism. This has been recognised in a wide range of achievements and it is reflected in our award of NHS Foundation Trust status. This is afforded to hospitals that provide the highest standards of care.
