NHS Scotland is considering making the new version of its GPASS clinical system available on local practice servers as well as central servers following pressure from GPs.
EHI Primary Care can reveal that NHS Scotland has told the GPASS User Group that it is considering the move, described by the GPASS user group says is essential to speed up the rollout of GPASS Clinical – which it says is desperately needed by GPs.
GPs have expressed concern about the length of time it will take to get everyone on to a central server as well as worries that third party software programs will not work with the central servers.
Dr Andrew McElhinney, chairman of the user group and a GP in Denny, Stirlingshire, outlined his concerns in a letter to GPASS this month. He estimates that it could take at least two years to every practice in Scotland on to a managed server but says the user group wants 90 per cent of practices to have access to GPASS Clinical by June next year.
He told EHI Primary Care: “GPASS have an improved product which will compare much better with other systems yet there’s a chance that users won’t get it.”
In the letter he told GPASS: “I have already highlighted to the Programme Board users’ serious concerns with regards to the safety of the current version of GPASS. It seems scarcely credible that area IT teams will continue to supply non MS [managed services] practices with replacement servers running the obsolete SQL 6.5 (suspected to be the cause of the problems with lost clinical notes and appointments) and what is effectively the same GPASS clinical interface which was criticised by Mike Pringle in 2002, for the next 12, 18 months or longer.”
Dr McElhinney said many GPs were concerned about switching to a managed server because there were worried that third party software programs essential to the smooth running of practices, such as flu vaccination software and label printers, would not work on the central servers.
In the letter he added: “These are all vital for business continuity, and apart from the extensive testing requirements for the 3rd party suppliers as well as GPASS, there are many technical and configuration issues which are bound to cause delays.”
Similar concerns have been raised in England where GPs have moved to central servers as part of the switch to GP systems provided under Connecting for Health contracts.
In Scotland 85 per cent of practices use GPASS but earlier this year a new deal on system choice agreed by the Scottish General Practitioner Committee and the Scottish Executive means that practices can move systems providing that certain conditions are met including an agreement that any new system must use a central data server.
In his letter Dr McElhinney added: “Is there a tacit acceptance that GPASS will not be the national system for much longer? If so, much effort and continued frustration could be prevented by changing now on a national level to an alternative system which already has the necessary functionality. If not, then let there be investment on the scale necessary to allow GP computing in Scotland to develop properly and deliver GPASS Clinical to all practices within the next 12 months.”
Ron Anderson, head of national IM&T programmes, told EHI Primary Care that the company is considering rolling out GPASS Clinical via practice servers as well as central servers. He said more information may be available in a couple of weeks.
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