Doctors at two health boards are trialling a new, mobile version of the Welsh Clinical Portal.
The Welsh Clinical Portal app is an innovative development from the NHS Wales Informatics Service to help the medical workforce go about their daily tasks more effectively.
Health professionals across Wales can already view clinical documents and test results electronically in hospitals via the Welsh Clinical Portal. The system provides access to patient information from many sources, creating a digital patient record.
The launch of the app version means clinicians will be able to access some information about their patients while on-the-go and at the bedside from a mobile phone.
Key features available include two-factor authorisation to ensure secure access, patient watch list creation, results notifications for users and patient ‘to do’ lists to support unified care.
Katherine Lewis, national project manager for the Welsh Clinical Portal at NHS Wales Informatics Service said: “Currently, this is a proof of concept trial limited to a small number of users in Cwm Taf Morgannwg and Betsi Cadwaladr University health boards. Some are using their own smartphones, while others are using NHS Wales’ devices.
“Feedback has been positive and we are listening to the needs of the clinicians we are working with. As a result of this, we have built speciality into the next version of the app and a number of features have been enhanced. Evaluation from this trial is critical to the next phases of development.
“We know that the use of new technology is vital to supporting the digital transformation process and we want to give health professionals the information they need to make decisions, and make technology easy to use and access.”
The Welsh Clinical Portal currently hosts over 18 million care documents spanning GP referrals, emergency department attendances, outpatient clinics, operation notes and investigation reports as well as over 108 million pathology test results.
The latest update to the desktop version will include hospital to hospital referrals, which means users have access to more detailed information about the patient journey across hospitals and health boards.