To ask the Minister of Health to detail whether there are plans to have fully joined-up electronic patient records with an encompass system roll-out across primary care services.

The encompass system has now been successfully implemented across all five HSCNI Trusts, supporting secondary, social, and community care services. Further extension of its Electronic Patient Record (EPR) to include primary care, however, presents a number of technical, contractual, financial and information governance challenges.

Most General Practitioners (GPs) operate within HSCNI as independent contractors and retain autonomy over their Practice Management Systems and other software used within their practices. The "GP System of Choice” (GPSoC) is part of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract with the Department of Health, ensuring that all systems meet NHS accreditation standards while providing Practices with choice. A full roll-out of encompass across multiple primary care providers therefore presents a number of additional challenges including, but not limited to, alignment of technology and data migration/stewardship. In addition, the encompass EPR supplier, Epic, does not currently provide a traditional UK Practice Management System as per GPSoC requirements.

Integration with existing primary care systems has however been a key consideration for encompass and GP representatives across the region have actively contributed to its design and implementation. All practices now benefit from read-only access to the EPR through a platform called EpicCare Link. This provides a role-appropriate view of the patient record and facilitates GPs to make referrals, order laboratory tests and imaging, and communicate securely with HSC colleagues.

Provision has also been made to develop further urgent and ambulatory care functionality to support Northern Ireland’s primary care Out of Hours (OOHs) service providers. This will provide the integrated technical foundation for new regional care models for urgent and emergency care across HSCNI. Additionally, ongoing configuration of encompass to deliver primary care functionality in the prison health setting within South Eastern HSC Trust may provide valuable insight and learning to inform future decision making. At present however, there are no plans for a wider roll-out of the encompass system across primary care services.