Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Integrated Care Board (ICB) has launched an electronic system to streamline patient referrals across the NHS and other sectors within the Integrated Care System (ICS).
The referral platform by Strata Health consolidates patient referrals for the 555,000 residents across primary, secondary, community care, social services sectors and the third sector.
It went live on 4 July and received 462 referrals on day one with a further 472 referrals on day two.
With a network of more than 250 referring locations and a fully operational clinical portal, the platform enables seamless patient transfers across three integrated transfer-of-care hubs and 15 primary clinical pathways.
These pathways cover a range of services, including general practice, community nursing, end-of-life care, acute GP services, community mental health and care home support.
Chris Reid, chief medical officer for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly ICB, said the new system was already benefitting patients and clinicians.
‘From GP to hospital services, Strata is a faster, more comprehensive and integrated way to refer patients to the right care and support they need,’ he said.
In the future, the ICS will have the capability to track and monitor important performance indicators, including the acceptance of integrated transfer of care hub referrals within 15 minutes and the triage process within 30 minutes.
This will be made possible through the implementation of AI-powered reporting and dashboards. The insights this provides will facilitate more effective decision-making for improved operational efficiency.
There are over 2,500 users, and this figure is projected to increase as more features become available, including more integrated workflows.
Phase 1A, scheduled for implementation over the next two months, will concentrate on further strengthening and improving workflows and functionality, incorporating feedback from users.
