New faces on PRSB's Advisory Board: An introduction to Dr Peter Bloomfield
In July, the PRSB was delighted to welcome Peter Bloomfield as one of the representatives for National Voices on our Advisory Board. Peter is currently the Head of Policy and Research at Future Care Capital and has a PhD in neuroscience from Imperial College London. We caught up with Peter and got to know a bit more about him, his views on the state and future of information standards and why high-quality medical tools need high-quality data.
For many, improving their health and wellbeing requires a holistic approach that addresses social concerns as much as medical ones. PRSB has been commissioned by NHS England and Improvement to develop a standard for social prescribing, and this month we held the second of our social prescribing workshops that will inform the standard. We received important feedback and views from linkworkers, clinicians and people using social prescribing services on the issues the standard should address.
From development to implementation: Standards in action
PRSB’s information standards are only as good as they are usable. Whilst our standards are designed and developed to a high-specification, it is equally as important that they are successfully implemented and put into action in everyday care settings.
This month we did a deep dive into three cases where our standards are being used in practice to support information sharing and promote joined-up care. We are proud to see that our pharmacy information standard is not only widely used to record flu vaccinations but is now also used by COVID-19 vaccination centres to record and share COVID-19 vaccinations with GPs, supporting the UK’s drive to get the population vaccinated as quickly as possible.
PRSB’s more recent social care standards have been used by NHS South West London CCG to digitise care home residents’ personal preferences and medical notes, which are then transferable between hospitals and care homes. With the support of PRSB’s standard, the information is being directly shared between systems and covers 500 beds in the area, which has helped to reduce emergency department attendances by 11%.
Partner Scheme News: Person Centred Software get seal of approval to become PRSB Quality Partner
Despite summer holidays being in full flow, we have had a number of conversations with digital software suppliers who will be joining the scheme in the next few weeks.
We are pleased to report that digital care management system supplier Person Centred Software have graduated to become a PRSB Quality Partner. On making the change, Andrew Coles, Head of Product at Person Centred Software, said “Going through the PRSB Quality Partner process has enabled us to make improvements to the product by building in the prompts and guidance to providers and users to help them complete the About Me information so that not only are they holding the information defined in the standard; they are also given help on how to make sure the quality of the information is robust.”
As we move into Autumn we will continue to expand the scheme and we’re working on an exciting programme of monthly events for our partners. These include webinars on Person Centred Care Planning, Urgent Palliative and End of Life Care Planning, Implementing the Core Information Standard and The Standards Route Map. In the planning stage for next year are workshops our partners have suggested topics for. These cover standards for AI and the role of information standards in supporting interoperability to improve care. Partners are also invited to attend our AGM which is open to anyone to join.
If you’d like to find out more about the PRSB’s Quality Partner Scheme, please visit the PRSB website or email partners@theprsb.org
Have your say on the development of the HL7 FHIR UK Core R4 profiles
PRSB are providing clinical and technical assurance to the development of the NHS Digital UK core R4 FHIR profiles and the profiles will be based on the Core Information Standard.
You are invited to attend the Sprint 4 of the clinical and technical assurance process for FHIR UK’s Core R4 profiles. The purpose of Sprint 4 is to develop FHIR assets that will support key CareConnect profiles, which will, in turn, ensure a standardised way of formatting interactions across different systems, increasing interoperability and safer outcomes for patients. It’s crucial that the assurance process is a multi-disciplinary collaboration in order to create a quality product.
The scope of Sprint 4 includes the following resources:
Composition, Condition, Procedure, List and RelatedPerson,
along with other associated FHIR conformance assets such as Extension, CodeSystems, ValueSets and ConceptMaps.
The current schedule for Sprint 4 is below and you have two options to get involved:
Proposed review pack review: * Initial kick off call: 29th September: 11:00-13:00 * Second call: 30th September : 11:00-13:00 * Third call (Contingency): 6th October: 11:00-13:00
Publication of final review pack: 11th October
Wider community review period of final review pack: 3 weeks, 11th October-29th October
Consolidated feedback review and disposition call: 12th November: 9:30-11:30
Retro/Lessons Learned call: 19th November :10:00-11:30
Option 1: Join the three calls starting on 29th September, where you can input into the ‘review pack’. The deadline for input on the review pack is the 11th October.
Option 2: Join a review panel where you will be able to submit feedback on the ‘review pack’ after its deadline on the 11th October. You will have until the 29th October to have your say.
Our 2021 AGM is fast approaching and we’re getting ready to look back at our work and achievements over the last year. This year PRSB will be highlighting digital information sharing between social care and health and the challenges and opportunities this poses.
The AGM is booked for 23rd September 10-13:30 and you should now have received your invitations. Please RSVP as soon as possible or email info@theprsb.org for more information.
New: NHSX publishes Care Record Management Code of Practice
On the 5th August, NHSX published an updated Records Management Code of Practice. The Code, which also applies to adult social care and public health, provides essential guidance on how to store, organise and manage records based on established standards. This is vital reading for any professional working within, or under contract to, NHS England and the Code should be read in conjunction with PRSB’s standards.
Get involved: Join our webinars to improve diabetes information standards
The Professional Records Standards Body (PRSB) has been commissioned by NHS England and Improvement to develop standards that will enable key information about a person with diabetes to be shared between them, their carer and professionals to support self-management and to enable the best care to be delivered by professionals. The standards will also enable information collected as part of routine care to be used for audit and population health management purposes.
In order to ensure the standards meet the information needs of those with all types of diabetes and those involved in all types of diabetes care, there will be wide consultation taking place in September.
HETT Show: Join PRSB at our first in-person event of 2021
In September PRSB will have a presence at our first live and in person conference this year – the Health Excellence Through Technology Show, which is scheduled for the 28th and 29th September.
We will be hosting a session on 29th September titled ‘Interoperability Success: do we need pragmatism or perfection to help it deliver?’ which PRSB Chair, Professor Maureen Baker, will chair with a panel of experts. We will also have a stand at the conference and we’d be very happy to see you there and finally meet our supplier network in person.
