TPP MIG integration in final testing

A west London pilot integrating TPP’s SystmOne with the Medical Interoperability Gateway is in a final round of testing and will conclude next month.

Healthcare Gateway signed a contract with TPP to share SystmOne data via its MIG in August, allowing a planned pilot to go ahead.

The five-year deal enables GPs across the UK using Emis, INPS and TPP GP clinical systems to securely share patient data in real time with each other and the rest of the NHS, including other community providers and secondary and urgent care clinicians.

The pilot in West London is testing data-sharing between an out-of-hours provider and urgent care centre using Adastra and GP practices using the three major GP systems.

A Healthcare Gateway spokesperson said: "We are pleased to report that the pilot has gone extremely well and is set to conclude in the next few weeks."

A TPP spokesperson confirmed that the pilot is ongoing.

“We are looking forward to working with London CCGs and HGL to fully complete the testing over the next few weeks. After this, we will be ready to roll out the functionality to all SystmOne sites as they request it.”

The spokesperson said the functionality can be enabled in a “matter of minutes” and the sharing of real-time data will help ease winter pressures and improve patient care.

The TPP MIG integration project looked to be in jeopardy in July when Healthcare Gateway said the agreement had collapsed. However, a contract was signed within a fortnight of that announcement.

The integration is key to plans to share data across care settings in west London, where four clinical commissioning groups covering 1m patients recently decided to move all of their GPs on to SystmOne to enable greater data sharing.

Speaking at the BCS Primary Health Care Specialist Group conference in Ettington last week, Central London CCG chief clinical information officer Dr Sam Rodgers said 70-80% of GPs in the four groups voted to move to a single system and a majority were in favour of SystmOne.

The other three are Ealing, West London and Hammersmith and Fulham CCGs, while Hounslow CGG has already made the move.

Dr Rodgers told the audience that despite initial resistance to the idea from some practices, nearly all were now expected to make the transition.

“Even those who were vehemently opposed have come around to say they want to do it because they can see the benefits,” he added.

The plan is to use the MIG to link GPs across eight north west London CCGs with out-of-hours and secondary care.

Dr Rodgers said the imminent arrival of winter means people have been “chewing (his) arm off” to get the MIG working in A&E.