Oxfordshire uses EDT Hub for 111

NHS Oxfordshire is using PCTI’s electronic document transfer hub to deliver 111 messages to GP practices.

The system went live in July and enables 111 contact summary messages to be sent to GPs electronically.

Paper letters can take up to five days to arrive at a practice, but the new system means that 111 messages are transferred through an EDT Hub directly into the GP practices’ workflow via Docman.

NHS Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Cluster informatics strategy and programmes project manager Una Rice said Oxfordshire chose to use the EDT Hub for the 111 service because practices were already using it to receive discharge and A&E summaries from the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Trust.

Oxfordshire ran a messaging pilot within the 111 project, which involved it not sending all 111 contact summaries to practices.

“That meant we needed the ability to suppress messages for certain dispositions and also for any patients referred on to our out-of-hours service,” said Rice.

“PCTI developed that functionality which we can now access and amend directly should the parameters of the pilot change. We also have access to amend the format of the rendered document,” she added.

“Having that control and flexibility has been very helpful.”

Ric Thompson, PCTI managing director, said extending the EDT Hub to the new 111 service provides an exciting opportunity to support the future of non-emergency health services.