Guidance for GP practices in relation to the NHS National Programme for IT (NPflT)
April 2004
(correct as of October 2006)
This guidance was produced by the Joint GP IT committee of the General Practitioners Committee (JGPITC) and the Royal College of General Practitioners
1. GPs will be aware of the NHS National Programme for IT in England, which has ambitious plans to modernise IT in the NHS in order to improve the quality of care delivered to patients and the working lives of frontline staff.
2. As part of this programme the NHS has awarded five contracts to four major IT companies to act as Local Service Providers (LSPs) each covering about 20% of the population in England. LSPs have been contracted to deliver the local elements of the Programme which should result in enhanced local IT systems providing better local functionality and enabling access to the new national services: the NHS Care Records Service (integrated patient records for the whole NHS), eBooking (where practices will be able to book hospital appointments for their patients directly) and the Electronic Transmission of Prescription Service (so practices can send prescriptions electronically to pharmacies).
3. In some parts of the country there have been suggestions that the Programme will require the rapid replacement of existing GP systems, which are currently serving GP practices and their patients well and on which the current delivery of patient services depends. While such an approach may be amongst the options being considered by LSPs, it is our firmly held view and that of the National Programme that such replacement should not occur unless, and until, a clearly better alternative is available along with a tested and agreed process for safe migration to it. Practices will be reassured that paragraph 4.31 of the new General Medical Services (GMS) contract 2003 ‘Investing in General Practice’ guarantees a role for the GPC in the assessment of any new alternative systems.
4. The National Programme for IT may, in due course, require the upgrade or replacement of existing GP systems with some inevitable disruption to GP practices in order to lay the foundations for much improved patient care across the whole health and social care community.
5. Our advice to GP Practices, which is endorsed by the Department of Health and the National Programme for IT is as follows: Practices with RFA99+ accredited systems with which they are currently happy should not agree to transfer to an alternative system as long as their current supplier has confirmed their desire to make their system “NPfIT compliant” (Our understanding is that most systems will be made compliant. Appendix 1 contains further details of compliant systems). The National Programme expects LSPs to take all reasonable steps to support any accredited systems where local demand exists.
6. Where the suggestion is that practices should move to another RFA99+ accredited system we would advise that they are unlikely to achieve benefits that justify the cost and disruption that accompanies even a well planned and executed conversion, particularly as any such move is unlikely to meet the medium or long term requirements of the National Programme or improve patient care through the Quality and Outcomes Framework.
8. Practices and their PCTs should not be financially or otherwise disadvantaged by choosing to remain with an existing system in line with this advice or by exercising choice within the limited scope described in paragraph 7 above.
9. A briefing paper endorsed by the JGPITC including the user group chairs containing additional information in support of this guidance has been prepared by the Primary Health Care Group of the BCS and is available from their website at www.phcsg.org
10. Practices seeking advice or wishing to provide information about local activity at odds with this guidance should contact rmerrett@bma.org.uk
Appendix 1
By “NPfIT compliant” we mean able to communicate with the NHS Care Records Service (also known as the spine) to the degree required to support phase 1 releases of the spine software including compatibility with the eBooking and ETP services. Our understanding is that all significant suppliers are willing to meet this requirement in relation to their systems subject to detailed agreement with NPfIT as follows*:
EMIS - LV - Version 5.2 and above
EMIS - PCS - All versions
EMIS - GV - All versions
Healthysoft - Healthysoftware - Version 5
In Practice Systems - Vision - Version 3
Microtest - Practice Manager 2 - Version 161 and later
Microtest - Evolution - Version 1.0.0 and later
The Phoenix Partnership - SystmOne - All versions
SEETEC - GP Enterprise - Version 1.7 and later
Torex - Synergy
Torex - Synergy (Enterprise)
Torex - Premiere
UCL Chime - GP Care - Version 4 and later
Exeter Protechnic - ESP32 and Evolve
*Please note that this list will be continually updated and therefore may be subject to change at times.