Forth Valley goes live with RCPCH GrowthAPI, Morse EPR integration  

Cambric Systems, a supplier of healthcare patient data software solutions for use in secondary and community-based healthcare settings, has announced that NHS Forth Valley has successfully integrated the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health’s GrowthAPI with its Morse mobile electronic patient record (EPR) system.  

The new software will help save clinical time, provide improved information and support earlier access to care for children and families. 

Growth is one of the most sensitive measures of health in children. Healthy children grow normally, but what does normal look like? Work to answer this question was carried out by child health experts at RCPCH in the 1960s and 1970s, and this led to the publication of the paper charts in the 1980s, which are found in every child’s ‘Red Book’, now used every day by parents and professionals across the UK. 

In 2021, RCPCH moved to digitalise this capability. The calculations that go into producing the growth ‘centile’ lines are perhaps surprisingly complex to many not familiar with their intricacies, so developing the software needed lots of clinical, statistical and data expertise.

The RCPCH clinical and developer team then launched their charts as an API – a technical approach that allows electronic health records from across GP surgeries to specialist hospitals, to access the calculations automatically, and benefit from the accuracy of the RCPCH work. 

Scott Jaffray, facilities and infrastructure associate director for NHS Forth Valley, said: “Integrating the RCPCH GrowthAPI with our Morse EPR is the latest in our continuing strong collaboration with Cambric Systems and it is already having a positive impact for clinicians across our paediatric services.” 

Cambric has worked closely with the Royal College and NHS Forth Valley to integrate the API which allows the Morse EPR to access this world-leading child growth calculation technology.

This means that clinicians can see instantly and at a glance, when measuring children during standard health reviews, if they are within safe parameters, or if the child should be referred for specialist assessment. As well as saving time, this gives peace of mind to clinicians and parents alike that any growth anomalies that could indicate underlying health issues will be identified early. 

Garry Sherriff, MD at Cambric, stated: “At Cambric we pride ourselves in building strong relationships with organisations throughout the healthcare ecosystem. We are delighted to have completed this project for NHS Forth Valley with the RCPCH which will result in better solutions for frontline clinicians, and ultimately supports better patient care provision.” 

NHS Forth Valley first deployed the Morse EPR app, supporting its mobile community staff to work more efficiently and boost collaboration, in November 2022.