NHS Scotland expands Advanced software to ease A&E pressures

NHS Scotland is set to redesign its urgent care services and improve sharing of clinical data using Advanced software.

The rollout of Advanced’s clinical patient management software, Adastra, forms part of the Scottish government’s programme to help hospitals cope with A&E admissions during the pandemic.

People who call NHS 24 111 and require treatment at A&E can now book an appointment and have their medical information transferred into Adastra for hospital clinicians to access.

Those who don’t require an A&E visit will be able to book a call back or make an appointment with another service such as out-of-hours GP or mental health assessment.

Ric Thompson, managing director health and care at Advanced, said: “With emergency departments overstretched, the Scottish government’s scheme couldn’t come at a more critical time.

“We are already starting to see a drop in A&E attendance, which suggests that some patients who would normally visit A&E are choosing to get care elsewhere.

“The implementation of Adastra has been pivotal in the management of urgent care during Covid-19, helping NHS Scotland signpost citizens to the right care at the right time.”

Adastra provides consistent data flow between clinicians and healthcare services by ensuring that medical records can be viewed instantly when needed.

Clinicians can record the care they are providing and send further details to the patient’s GP using the system. It links to Advanced’s document management solution Docman, which is used by all GP practices in Scotland,  to deliver end-to-end care.

Adastra has been used in Scotland for 17 years to manage out-of-hours and unscheduled care.

“Our clinical patient management tool is the result of years of development and input from healthcare and IT professionals. We are confident it will benefit Scotland’s urgent care services both now and in the years to come,” Thompson added.

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