Coventry & Warwickshire COVID-19 Portal

Please find below a brief update on the latest situation re: IT

CAN I PLEASE ASK YOU TAKE A FEW MINUTES FROM YOUR BUSY DAYS TO READ THIS – I appreciate you are all busy BUT it will help us to help those with genuine IT problems 

PLEASE NOTE - any dates quoted are aspirational and are subject to the SWFT engineers and Digital Angels staying fit and well! (Fingers crossed)

Much has been achieved over a few days and I am sure you will join me in thanking the SWFT Teams and the Digital Angels for all they are doing for us – they have been truly awesome!

1. Remote Working - YOUR ACCESS TO EMIS

This new facility has now been rolled out to all practices across south Warwickshire. It is to support practices where staff are working from home. It is to support clinical activity …it has NOT been designed to allow you to do all the things you used to do in the practice at home. Please restrict your usage to accessing EMIS and Docman. This will ensure we allow everyone to have access and good response times. Please do not log in and use it simply to do your emails and ALWAYS ensure you log out when you no longer require access using the red Logoff icon on the desktop. 

If you have not accessed this system before you do please ensure you:

a. Have updated your anti-virus software

b. Ensure you have the latest Windows/Mac updates ( Settings > Updates and Security) 

c. Have your user name and password available -if you don’t please complete the attached ICT Network access request form. 

d. Joining instructions for both Windows and Mac Operating System are attached.

Smartcard functionality is now enabled. Staff can plug external USB Omni key smartcard readers into their own devices to process and issue electronic prescriptions. Please note this works from Windows PCs only.  

Recognising this is not a perfect solution we are hoping to roll out O365 by mid-April. We are exploring how this will allow you to access files and documents. It will also give you access to Teams which should help you stay in touch with your colleagues over the coming weeks.

We are also exploring using the Clinical Pharmacists and the Medicines Optimisation Teams to support the management of repeat prescriptions for stable patients. Further information regarding this will follow. We hope this will support GP workload especially.

Again please can I ask you NOT to use or request the old remote working solution. We are not in a position to support this and SWFT ICT have been told this is not a priority. Please DO NOT try to mix both solutions as this will not work and also finally you CANNOT test the new remote working solution from the practice as it WILL NOT work.

On the good news front - USB headsets have now arrived These have been allocated to practices on a fair shares basis, you can contact Ben/Jodie and collect them …from a safe distance of course…from Gainsborough Hall. We are mobilising remote resilience call centres for PCNs to utilise should reception teams need to work from home. More information about this will be sent under separate cover. 

2. Laptops

The balance of the laptops continue to be rolled out. The following practices should receive theirs over the next week or so … 

Practice Name Outstanding Laptops Scheduled Dates

Priory Medical Centre 7 24th March

Sherbourne Medical Centre 5 24th March

Croft Medical Centre 8 25th/26th March

Waterside Medical Centre 6 27th March

Shipston Medical Centre 6 30th March

Bidford Health Centre 6 31th March

Clarendon Lodge Medical Practice 6 1st April

Hastings House Surgery 6 2nd April

Castle Medical Centre 5 3rd April

if you are not on the list and have not received your full allocation you will be notified next week. They provide access to EMIS, Docman and the NHS spine so support prescribing. They are configured to the names you provided to us as a practice.

3. On Line Consultation

Well over 70% of you are now live and practices are starting to see the benefits of using this channel to manage patients digitally. Jodie Oxford - our other wonderful Digital Angel - is supporting practices to go live. Please speak to her if she tries to get in touch …as she can really help you implement this solution. It will help divert patients away from the telephone and help to spread workload.

4. Other digital channels

Please continue to promote the NHS App and/or Patient Access and of course the NHS website . Anything you can do to support those patients that can use the digital channels to do so will leave you more time to help those who cannot use or don’t have access to digital solutions. 

5. Data Sharing

We are waiting for EMIS to confirm they have switched on access to Docman Share, SWFT EMIS Community data and in light of how challenging things may get we are also giving SWFT clinicians access to your EMIS data in order to help them treat patients as quickly as is required. All of these projects have been approved by the LMC. Further information will follow about switching this on in your EMIS systems.

6. Other projects 

This includes the roll out of the Windows 10 new pcs which is continuing BUT are very much subject to engineering resource. Dave Scattergood will contact you directly when it’s your time! Please look out for his emails. If timings are not convenient simply let him know. We are continuing to work on the digitisation of Lloyd George notes and the new website project too. We have also attached some guidelines re working from home to keep you and your patients safe.

Finally the solutions above cannot and will not be able to replicate all you do in general practice. We are all working on solutions to support you as things get more challenging and staffing number reduce. Please think about your processes – what is key and what is not?; what can you do from home ?; what needs to be done in the practice; what needs to be done by a clinician; what can save you time if you invest a little time in setting up; what can you do as a PCN rather than as an individual practice? We need to adapt our process to the IT solutions we have and not the opposite. I am sure you are all on top of this and of course if you need help myself, the Digital Angels and SWFT ICT are around to help …we may just need a little longer to respond.

Thanks for your patience and support and thanks again to the SWFT team and the Digital Angels

Further regular updates will follow

Kindest Regards 

Sue 

Sue Phillips

Head of Transformation

NHS South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group

Address: Westgate House, Market Street, Warwick, CV34 4DE 

Telephone: 01926 353707

Mobile: 07891 906132

Email: sue.phillips@southwarwickshireccg.nhs.uk

NHS.net email: sue.phillips4@nhs.net

Website: www.southwarwickshireccg.nhs.uk