FRONTLINE HIV Forum Meeting September 2011
Date: 7th September 2011
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Attendees: 5
Apologies: 2
The next ordinary meeting of the Forum will be held at the Kobler Clinic, Wednesday 5th October on the 4th Floor of the St Stephens Centre, from 6:00pm to 8:00pm.
This document details the discussions held by the Frontline Forum members at the last meeting. They are not complete minutes, more notes or points loosely captured in no particular order; apologies for points missed. Many thanks go to those who participated, and well as to those who continue to contribute through the online forum.
Electronic Document Management
A talk about Electronic Document Management, EDM, was given by Mr. John Pickett, Assistant General Manager, and Mr. Bill Gordon, Director of IT. EDM will replace the old fashioned filing cabinets, with folders and papers, with an electronic system which is more efficient.
The system will remove the problem of notes being lost or filed incorrectly and also enable more than one person to access and view a single document at the same time. This will significantly improve the operational service delivery to the benefit of patients and staff. All systems will join up so that the patient pathway clinical and administrative information can all be accessed. It will be patient friendly giving information on all illnesses and helping patients understand their condition. X-rays and scans will be stored electronically, and will be able to be viewed on screens. It would empower patients when they could access their own data. It will also improve the security and safety of public records because the content of the original document will not be able to be deleted or lost. Any notes compiled by your doctor on your visit will be updated to your records by the scanning department.
The secure information is held by the Trust and strict security policies will control who can view and update records and managers will be able to easily audit who has accessed certain files. The National Health Service has more security than most sites. Every year, what is called a penetration test, is carried out by a security company, in which that company will attack the NHS system to see if they can breach security. Any faults or weaknesses found in the attack will be repaired and updated. Measures are in place which would show if the system was under attack and take remedial action, shutting down systems under attack. Even if a computer hacker were able to infiltrate the system, they would only get subsets of information. They might see your results, for example, but they would not get your personal data, name, address etc. Electronic files can also be easily recovered during a disaster such as a fire or flood, unlike paper records which would be likely to be destroyed. All historical data can be anonymised to develop research information.
There will be touch screens in a kiosk within the hospital. When you touch in the screen will inform you where you have to go for your appointment, and will show you a map of the hospital and how to get to the required department. The department will be notified, by your act of touching in, that you are in the hospital and on your way to them.
There is role based access to information, meaning that not all staff can access all your information, only the relevant information they need to act on.
The possible use of telephone applications for mobile devices, which patients could access, is being researched.
Mr. Pickett and Mr. Gordon had recently been on a site visit to Liverpool NHS to see how EDM was being integrated there and were encouraged by their application of the system. Mr. Gordon will keep the forum informed on progress and would like to come back before Christmas to give an update.
Home Delivery of Anti- HIV Drugs
Sonali Sonecha, Lead Pharmacist for HIV and Sexual Health, gave a talk on Home Delivery of Anti HIV drugs. There is a significant financial benefit to the National Health Service as drugs delivered to patients in the community are not subject to VAT, value added tax, whereas VAT is paid on those dispensed on hospital premises, as drugs, medications and appliances that are dispensed by doctors to patients for self administration are taxable for VAT purposes. The home delivery service has made considerable savings by not paying VAT.
The home delivery company pharmacies receive a fee for their dispensing of drugs to patients. In the financial year 2007/2008 the London Consortium set targets that 25% of patients should be in the service. Savings made through use of this service have been used in house.
With the new contract negotiated with the drug companies for the supply of antiretroviral drugs, and with the new guidelines for prescribing these drugs there is now a perfect opportunity to further encourage patients to take up home delivery. At present there are approximately 1,700 patients registered for home delivery but the hospital would like the number of patients taking up the service to increase to over 3,000 patients by the new financial year which starts in April 2012.
Pharmacists will speak to patients when they pick up their medication and try to persuade them to agree to home delivery. Previously some patients were being given too much medication, and it is hoped that over prescribing will not occur in the future. Patients will be able to pick up their medication from nominated Boots chemists, there are ten shops in London at present, and this will rise to fifteen shops. A third home delivery pharmacy has recently signed a contract to supply medication to patients and it is hoped that patients will be better served and there will be less waiting time.
A dedicated telephone line for prescriptions is to be set up by the end of September. A questionnaire seeking a satisfaction survey on home delivery will be offered to patients sometime in the next few months.
The pharmacy is expanding services in other clinics at Charing Cross, and Dean Street where a satellite pharmacy is being set up.
Please be sure that the pharmacy can prescribe medications to patients whose home delivery has been delayed and will not receive their medication on time.
AOB
SOCIAL EVENTS
The proposed social events need someone to organise and manage them. Anyone interested in managing this project should contact the chair. chair@frontlinehiv.net
The next meeting of the KVN Forum will be held at:
The Kobler Clinic
4th Floor
Stephens Centre
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
6:00pm to 8:00pm
On Wednesday 5th October 2011
Refreshments provided
Please forward all points/suggestions for next meeting to the online forum, or directly to Christian at chair@frontlinehiv.net and the Agenda will be posted to the online Forum, with any additional points added to it as they are sent in.
Future Meetings:
Wednesday 2nd November
Wednesday 7th December