One million transfer milestone reached by GP2GP

Over 5,000 GP practices across the UK use the reliable and secure transfer system, which Connecting for Health has claimed increases patient safety and continuity of care.

 

Dr Alan Hassey, a member of the Royal College of GPs Health Informatics Group said, "I am delighted that the project has reached this very significant milestone, which demonstrates the benefits of the profession and NHS Connecting for Health working closely together".

 

"This is an important landmark. Over two thirds of all practices in England are now able to send and receive the patient's entire electronic record when they move from one surgery to the next,” said Dr John Williams, clinical safety lead for the GP2GP programme.

 

"It is very encouraging that this has been well received by participating practices and there has been a good clinical safety record. This is just the start, to obtain the full potential of GP2GP we must now go on to enable the majority of remaining practices and refine the transfer process."

 

According to Connecting for Health, Leeds Student Medical Practice is the highest user of the GP2GP platform in England, having transferred in excess of 6,000 records since 2007. Practice manager, Carrie Ellison, has reported seeing real time-saving benefits from using GP2GP, "It's a real benefit to see the vaccination history being included by GP2GP. It used to take our staff a great deal of time to get this information from the paper record when preparing for travel immunisation clinics, but now with GP2GP it arrives already coded".

 

"In most cases the patient notes are available at first consultation,” added Ellison. "This is of immense benefit when a patient presents at the practice with ongoing medical conditions because it provides the clinicians with access to their full health record, including past and current medication. We feel this allows us to deliver seamless care to our patients, which is what we aim to achieve."