Ten Years and Ten Million Patients on SystmOne

More than ten million people in England and Wales now have patient records held on clinical computer system, SystmOne.

This year TPP is celebrating its tenth anniversary. The company started off life in September 1998 with a clinical system which was to become SystmOne, the UK's leading centralised system, and the only one specifically designed to share clinical information through a single electronic record.

At the end of its first decade, the number of patient records held on SystmOne stands at over ten million. That's equivalent to the population of all of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland put together; it's one in six people in the UK, or one in five in England.

These patients across the country are now benefiting from their records being stored on a proven, secure centralised system, ensuring that their records follow them across both geographical boundaries and care settings, making information available where it's needed, when it's needed, improving the quality of their care.

The vision of the National Programme for IT is to support the NHS in providing better, safer care, by delivering computer systems that improve how patient information is stored and accessed.

Dr John Connolly, Clinical Lead for Technology at Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT and a GP at The Ridge Medical Practice says: "The ability to share clinical data throughout patient journeys, across diverse clinical teams, is improving patient care. Where SystmOne is widely deployed in primary and community settings and its functionality used in innovative ways, our patients with most complex needs are receiving a more integrated and reliable service."

Dr Paul Nathan is a SystmOne user and head of the National User Group for SystmOne, he says: "SystmOne offers a unique opportunity to improve patient care. Clinicians from all disciplines need to help drive this development to ensure records are meaningful and constructed in a way which facilitates this process. No other clinical system is available which offers this opportunity. New systems always offer threats to traditional ways of working; thinking about a patient record in the wider sense challenges some old fashioned ways of working. TPP is keen to develop and grow SystmOne to address the changing needs of the users. Hopefully together we can develop a really fantastic product for the benefit of our patients."

In its tenth year, TPP has seen significant changes. Already, pockets of SystmOne users are springing up across the southern part of England, namely in Wiltshire, Devon, and Dorset and this is likely to significantly increase as the SystmOne solution will be made available to GP practices in the Southern and London areas supported with funding from NHS Connecting for Health.

TPP was founded ten years ago by Frank Hester and Satvinder Virk, with a vision to link up primary care in this country through a single system. Ten years on, the co-founders are pleased with the real progress SystmOne is making. Frank says, "I feel that we are genuinely raising the bar so that every health professional will be able to get a system to deliver good shared patient care. That's what we want to achieve, working with CSC, and we'll work hard to make that happen."

Currently approximately 20 GP practices a month are moving over to SystmOne. The rollout of SystmOne in other areas of primary care is also increasing quickly, by the end of the financial year, the vast majority of PCTs across the eastern side of England, will be live with both SystmOne Community and Child Health.

Satvinder Virk says, "The direction this is all heading in is making SystmOne the hub of primary care in the UK. I genuinely believe that. We want to make TPP the primary care supplier for the UK and we think that's achievable."