For information: Changes to dm+d and SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension content 

Changes are being made to the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d) and SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension to reduce the potential for clinical errors across NHS clinical IT systems.  

The changes will bring the content and availability of these terminologies into closer alignment whilst improving safety and efficiency, allowing staff to focus even more on care. 

Find out more about these changes, including proposed delivery timescales and a video for NHS Trusts. 

Read the rollout plan for the VMP ID changes.  

If you have any queries, please contact nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net  

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For information: Changes to dm+d and SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension  

Changes are being made to the NHS Dictionary of Medicines and Devices (dm+d) and SNOMED CT UK Drug Extension to reduce the potential for clinical errors across NHS clinical IT systems. The changes to the underlying terminology (dm+d) will impact IT systems differently. Pharmacy teams should liaise with their IT system suppliers to determine how the changes will impact their systems. 

Information for specific changes is available on the NHS Digital website, including proposed delivery timescales and a video for NHS Trusts. 

For any queries, please contact nhsdigital.ukmeds@nhs.net. 

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Additional information for Digital Leaders – February 2023

Join our Cloud Community of Practice 

Our Cloud Centre of Excellence team will be launching a new NHS Cloud Community on the FutureNHS platform in March, called the Cloud Community of Practice. 

It’s aimed at NHS organisations who are interested in all aspects of cloud migration and will be an open forum for people to pose questions and present their challenges around cloud migration to peers.  

To pre-register your interest in the Cloud Community please contact us at cloudcoe@nhs.net.  

 

Improvements to the Register with a GP surgery service 

Recent improvements to the Register with a GP surgery online service include: 

  • revised alcohol and smoking questions to improve patient information at point of registration 
  • an option for patients to nominate their chosen pharmacy 

We are planning to add more features and integrate the service with the NHS App later this year. See our roadmap for more details. 

The Register with a GP surgery service is now live with almost 600 practices and has shown to reduce the time it takes administrative staff to register new patients by up to 15 minutes per registration. 

GP practices can begin using the service by self-enrolling or by contacting the dedicated support team. Further information can also be found on the resource hub. 

 

Feature: Electronic prescribing comes of age 

The Electronic Prescription Service has transformed primary care prescribing in England. In her NHS Digital feature, Christine Hague looks back at 18 years of the service and asks what's next. 

 

Blog: Helping people think straight about alcohol 

In his Design Matters blog, David Evans, content designer for the Register with a GP surgery service, says it’s difficult to get accurate answers about people’s smoking and alcohol consumption – and explains what the team is doing to improve the way people assess their intake. 

 

Blog: Shaping the future of technology in general practice 

Dan Wintercross explains the benefits of getting involved with the early adopter programme, which is giving GP practices the opportunity to shape the future of digital, data and technology in primary care. Read his Digital Transformation blog. 

 

Podcast: Plans to transform the digital workforce

Listen to the second podcast in the series from the NHS England digital workforce team. A panel of clinical and digital leaders discuss their understanding of the digital workforce across heath and care, and look at why clinicians are fundamental to the success of digital transformation. 

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Events to help shape future of IT systems at the heart of the NHS

NHS England is holding a series of bi-monthly webinars to encourage people to get involved in how technology can meet the current and future needs of patients, staff and citizens - with the next session ‘Spine Futures’ due to take place on Thursday 23 February. 

The existing NHS Spine joins together more than 28,000 healthcare IT systems and sends over 47 million messages a day. It allows information to be shared securely through national services such as the Electronic Prescription Service, Summary Care Record and the e-Referral Service. 

Since April 2022, work has been underway to develop a new platform to modernise the current NHS Spine over the next two to three years. A core element of the programme has been to make use of modern technologies to create a cloud-based Spine of the future. 

Cloud technology makes developing services easier and has the potential to reduce environmental impact. 

In December last year, the Messaging Exchange for Health and Social Care (MESH) was successfully  replaced with a cloud-based version.  MESH connects over 35,000 health and care organisations, enabling them to share a wide variety of data securely and reliably and at scale, with around 70,000 messages sent a month. 

The next Spine service set to migrate to cloud is the National Record Locator (NRL). 

Stephen Koch, Executive Director for Platforms at NHS England, said: “We want the Spine of the future to make the best use of modern technologies and open standards to ensure it meets the needs of NHS users for many years to come.  

“That's why we're actively engaging the health and care system with the development of the Spine Futures programme. 

“Last year’s migration of the MESH service to the cloud was a massive achievement for the teams involved and a significant first step in our Spine Futures programme. 

“We’re asking colleagues working in health and care to tell us what they need from the Spine of the future as we take the next steps of our journey to transform IT in health and social care.” 

The webinar is aimed at anyone working in health and care who wants to hear about plans for the Spine of the future and share their needs for national services. 

The session will focus on the latest developments including how NHS England is working with social care software providers, the latest developments from the National Record Locator (NRL), and the details of how the MESH system migrated to the cloud without impacting the service. 
 
To find out more, anyone working in IT across health or care can register for the Spine Futures webinar on Thursday 23 February, from 3.30pm to 4.30pm.  

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Problems uploading a photo in Care Identity Service application – expired certificate

You are trying to upload a photo on a user's Care Identity Profile in the Care Identity Service Application, and see the following error message:

Applicant Photo Error: Click for details

It is likely that you are using Internet Explorer, or Edge in IE Compatibility mode. This is an unsupported browser for Care Identity Service.

The Care Identity Service application should be accessed using Edge or Chrome browsers. You must also have the latest version of Credential Management installed. Credential Management removes the need to have Java running on your machine, when using the NHS Care Identity suite of applications. 

A list of software that we support on the Warranted Environment Specification.

To see if you already have Credential Management set up, use our checker tool.

The latest version of our software, including Credential Management and Identity Agent (needs HSCN connection). 

If you have any problems with this workaround, or to report another issue, go to the NHS Digital Customer Portal or email: ssd.nationalservicedesk@nhs.net.

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Electronic prescriptions reach one billion a year

 

Almost one billion prescription items were dispensed electronically in the last 12 months, with less than 1 in 20 still paper-based.

The Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) is now the default method for prescribing and dispensing  prescriptions in primary care in England.

The number of electronic prescriptions sent to community pharmacies has almost doubled in the past five years according to figures highlighted by NHS England to mark the 18th anniversary of the service.

Prescription items issued electronically topped 996 million (95%) in 2021/22, compared with 532 million in 2016/17 when just under half (48%) were still issued on paper.

The total number of prescription items dispensed each year has also grown from 1.02 billion in 2016/17 to 1.04 billion in 2021/22, with 11,400 pharmacies now signed up to using the electronic service.

The system allows clinicians to send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy of the patient's choice, making the prescribing and dispensing process more efficient and convenient for patients and staff.

Dr Rabani is a GP at Ling House Medical Centre in Keighley, West Yorkshire, where the first electronic prescription was sent 18 years ago. He said:

“The Electronic Prescription Service for us in general practice really has been a game-changer. Gone are the days of spending our lunch breaks signing reams of repeat prescriptions by hand.

“In terms of patient safety, if we change or cancel a prescription we can amend it in the system instead of phoning the pharmacy and making sure the paper slip is destroyed. And it’s been useful for my out-of-hours practice as well. I can look in the system to see the opening hours and addresses of pharmacies to help decide which is the most convenient one for my patient to send their prescription to.”

Rahul Singal, Chief Pharmacy and Medicines Information Officer at NHS England, said:

“When you look at the number of transactions that are made via the service and how much it’s revolutionised practice in general practice and community pharmacy, we’d be pushed to think of another national system that’s had more success.

“Our next focus is to introduce EPS into more care settings, including more health settings such as hospital outpatient departments so the benefits can be realised for even more clinicians and patients across the NHS.”

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is the first secondary care provider in England to implement EPS.

Dr James Briscoe, Consultant Psychiatrist in their Early Intervention team, said: 

"It is not too dramatic to state that EPS has revolutionised my practice. I can now write and deliver prescriptions in five minutes compared to the time and effort it took to handwrite a prescription from scratch, arrange for it to be collected by the service user or a member of the team or hand deliver it to a pharmacy. A huge time saving with inbuilt safeguards to enable safe prescribing.” 

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RA Emergency Guidance to be extended to end of March 2023

This guidance refers to the use of video calls and scans to verify a persons’ identity.

The Control of Patient Information (COPI notice), on which this emergency guidance was based, ended on 30 September 2022. The guidance date was extended whilst the ‘Apply for Care ID service’ was deployed.

Find out more about the Apply for Care ID service.

If you have a Sponsor, RA Agent or RA Manager role you should be able to access the Apply for Care ID service and start using the service now. 

From 1 April 2023 the only acceptable means of verifying a user’s identity will be:

It's only these 3 services that provide a high confidence in the identity created, which is a requirement from the Government, to access national clinical information and data systems.

If you have any queries about this, contact iamplatforms@nhs.net

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For information: Digital Firearms Marker enabled in EMIS practices from 6 February 2023

A new Digital Firearms Marker will help make firearms licensing safer. The marker will be deployed on 6 Feb 2023 for practices using EMIS Web (EMIS) systems.  

GPs should add the appropriate SNOMED code to a patient's record when they receive notification of a firearms certificate application or when a certificate is granted. This will now create a Digital Firearms Marker on a patient's record.  

If a potentially relevant condition of concern is added to their medical record during the application process or after a certificate has been issued, an alert will pop up. The alert will help enable GPs to determine if the police need to be made aware of the new condition. 

NHS Digital has developed the marker in collaboration with the BMA, RCGP, Department for Health & Social Care, and Home Office. It is scheduled for deployment on Cegedim/Vision systems in March 2023. 

Find more information about the marker, the set of conditions, and what to do when an alert pops up.  

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NHS Digital and NHS England complete merger

 

NHS England and NHS Digital have today legally merged in the first step towards creating a new, single organisation to lead the NHS in England to deliver high-quality services for all.

The move brings the NHS’ national data and technology expertise into one organisation, creating a closer link between the collection and analysis of data to help drive improvement to patient outcomes.

The transformative power of data and digital has remained central to the NHS’ ability to respond to major events – with the online National Booking Service helping drive the world-leading NHS Covid vaccination programme to administer almost 145 million doses.

In addition, the NHS has continued to harness the latest technology to tackle the extreme pressures seen in urgent and emergency care this winter, for example through the expansion of virtual wards and 24/7 system control centres.

The legal merger has been formally confirmed as, following parliamentary approval, the regulations which transfer the functions of NHS Digital to NHS England and abolish NHS Digital, have been made by ministers and come into effect today.

The transfer, which will include all existing protections for data, sees NHS England become the custodian of national health and social care datasets and the single executive non-departmental public body with responsibility for digital technology, data and health service delivery in the NHS.

The merger of NHS Digital and NHS England comes ahead of the incorporation of the body responsible for the education and training of the health workforce – Health Education England – into the new NHS England on 1 April 2023.

The integration of NHS Digital, Health Education England and NHS England will put workforce, data, digital and technology at the heart of plans to transform the NHS, enabling better, more joined-up decision-making at system, regional and national levels, and a more effective and efficient use of collective resources.

As a single, streamlined organisation, the new NHS England will build on the strengths and expertise of its legacy organisations, while avoiding duplicate activities – enabling it to be even more responsive to changing demand and the biggest challenges, priorities and opportunities of the health system.

It is expected that, by the end of 2023/24, the new organisation will be between 30-40% smaller than the current combined size of NHS England, Health Education England and NHS Digital.

The new, more integrated organisation will also support and accelerate the move to greater partnership working through integrated care systems (placed on statutory footing from 1 July 2022), by speaking with a single national voice and modelling effective joint working.

As integration activities continue, to enable the new NHS England to work efficiently as one single new organisation, almost all systems, processes and job roles are due to remain the same until at least April 2023.

NHS England’s Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, said: “Digital, data and technology already underpin so much of our personal and professional lives. Harnessing the enormous potential they hold will be key to supporting our continued management of and recovery from the pandemic, delivering on our Long Term Plan, and making services better and more sustainable – crucially in ways that support staff to do their best work, and deliver more convenient services for patients.

“Our colleagues from NHS Digital bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise, and a track record of delivering major data and digital projects and services, which will continue to be invaluable in our aim to help the NHS transform and improve the health and care of the people it serves.”

Simon Bolton, Interim CEO at NHS Digital, said: “Our merger with NHS England creates the opportunity to put digital at the heart of the NHS and build on what we’ve already achieved at NHS Digital.

“Technology and data are helping to improve people’s lives every day, whether ordering a repeat prescription through the NHS App, getting the latest health advice from the NHS website, or arranging a Covid vaccine using our national online booking service.

“We’re proud to be making a real difference to both colleagues in the NHS and the people that it serves.

“The merger will help us continue that journey as one central organisation, using digital to transform the NHS and provide the best care possible for patients.”

Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: “New technology and better data about how our health and care system is working at the frontline is key to improving care for patients.

“Bringing the latest digital tech into the heart of the NHS will help join up services and streamline decision making, boosting our recovery from the Covid pandemic and reducing waiting times.”

More information about the directions given by the Secretary of State can be found on the NHS Digital website.

More information about how data will be protected and safely used in the new NHS England can be found on the NHS England website.

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Scarlet fever among NHS website’s top ten most searched for conditions in 2022

Coronavirus, chickenpox and scarlet fever were among the most commonly viewed conditions on the NHS website in 2022.

A 2022 Top Ten list compiled by NHS Digital shows the most popular pages related to Coronavirus, with 16.3 million visits to advice on COVID-19 symptoms, testing and self-care, followed by 4.3 million clicks on long Covid.

High blood pressure was the third most-visited condition, attracting 3.8 million views, while scarlet fever, chickenpox and monkeypox all saw big increases in visits, compared with 2021.

Visits to the chickenpox page more than doubled in 2022 to become the fourth most visited condition, with 3.7 million against 1.7 million in 2021.

Scarlet fever was the seventh most visited page, with 3 million visits in 2022 – seven times the amount of clicks in 2021, when there were 414,000.

There were also 60 times as many visits to the page on monkeypox with 2.1 million in 2022, compared to only 35,000 in 2021.

Visits to the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) page remained high, increasing from 3.1 million in 2021 to 3.5 million in 2022, making it the fifth most visited condition of the year.

Searches for fever in children were also up in 2022, with 3.4 million visits compared with 2.9 million in 2021, and diarrhoea and vomiting page visits increased from 2.4 million in 2021 to 2.9 million in 2022.

Tonsillitis received 2.8 million hits in 2022 from 2.1 million in 2021, and rashes in babies and children increased to 2.7 million in 2022 from 2.4 million the previous year.

The ten most viewed pages about medical conditions in 2022 were:

  1. Coronavirus (16.3 million)
  2. Long Covid (4.3 million)
  3. High blood pressure (3.8 million)
  4. Chickenpox  (3.7 million)
  5. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (3.5 million)
  6. Fever in children (3.4 million)
  7. Scarlet fever (3 million)
  8. Diarrhoea and vomiting (2.9 million)
  9. Tonsillitis (2.8 million)
  10. Rashes in babies and children (2.7 million)

Joe Risk, NHS Digital’s head of delivery for the NHS website, said:

“Millions of people used the NHS website in 2022 for the latest Covid information or to book a vaccination, as well as for advice on topics ranging from high blood pressure to diarrhoea and vomiting.

“Providing access to the latest medical advice and making it as easy as possible for people to access is our top priority, to ensure we continue to support and improve health across the country.”

The NHS website, which is managed by NHS Digital, is the UK's biggest health website with an estimated 2.6 million visits a day in 2022 from people seeking information and advice. It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions.

The most popular page on the NHS website in 2022 was the COVID-19 vaccination booking page, with 60 million visits.

Other health services available on the website include applying for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card for healthcare cover abroad, finding a GP, and a BMI healthy weight calculator.

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