All GP practices at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board are now using the Welsh Clinical Communications Gateway e-referral service.
The system was first implemented in 2011 and permits clinical messages to be sent securely in an electronic format from a GP to the hospital, replacing patient referral letters.
The North Wales health board now has nearly 900 users sending 14,000 referrals each month. Dr David Morris, a GP from Connah’s Quay and one of the first to start using the system, said it had made his job much easier.
“Most doctors do the referrals straight into it, very often before the patient leaves the consulting room. The patients are delighted to see that their referral has arrived at the other end,” he said.
In North Wales, outpatient appointments are booked through three booking centres, which are now receiving 94% of referrals electronically.
Rachel Whitehall, assistant director of planned care at Betsi Calwadar, said: “Appointments can be re-directed between the booking centres to get the patients seen as quickly as possible at a location suited to them.”
Nationally, about 50% of referrals –7,000 a week – are being sent via the Welsh Clinical Communications Gateway and 95% of Wales’ 470 GP practices are using the online service.
The NHS Wales Informatics Service expects a full roll-out of its e-referral system this spring.
The gateway, which is used by all health boards in Wales, has been developed by NWIS in conjunction with the Scottish Executive’s eHealth programme, the Scottish Care Information team, local GPs, the Vale of Glamorgan Local Health Board’s Referral Management Centre, Cardiff and Vale and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University health boards.
It also includes status updates on referrals so GPs can see what is happening with their patient, and a GP led triage service which allows GPs to consider alternative routes to getting patients the most appropriate care.
The second stage of the project, which is about to begin, is hoped to deliver additional benefits by reducing unnecessary referrals due to use of more appropriate message types such as advice notes from hospital consultants.
NWIS will also start sending discharges and clinic letters through the gateway.
Other future benefits are to include the integration with NHS Wales’ national Myrddin patient administration system, which is already live at most health boards.