Patient News: We are Upgrading our Clinical System
We want to let patients know about upcoming changes here at Park Medical Group, and what they will mean for you in the short- and long-term.
By clinical system, we mean the computer programme we use to store your health records, and manage appointment, prescriptions, hospital referrals and everything else.
We are switching from our exist EMIS system to one called SystmOne.
Why are making this change
All our neighbouring GP practices in Gosforth and Jesmond use SystmOne, and many additional services provided by our Primary Care Network work across all practices. These include extra same-day appointments, evening and weekend GP and nurse consultations, home visiting services, Social Prescribing, Health and Wellbeing services, and medication reviews through Clinical Pharmacists.
Using the same clinical system will make it easier to share information, coordinate care, and deliver services more smoothly across the network.
Important dates
There is a point where we have to essential stop using the od system, so all data can be transferred to the new one. It’s important to have this cut-off so no important information gets missed.
The plan is to be fully operational on the new system by Wednesday 19th November. Shoudl this change, we will let you know.
These are the important dates:
- Monday 20th October – we will stop accepting new patient registrations, until further further notice.
- Wednesday 5th November to Wednesday 19th November – all online services, including eConsult will be unavailable.
- Wednesday 5th November to Wednesday 19th November – we will have no access to the Electronic Prescription Service, meaning we can’t take prescription requests digitally.
- Friday 7th November to Wednesday 19th November – we will have no access to pathology links, so won’t be able to offer blood tests or cervical screening (smear test)
- Tuesday 11th November to Wednesday 19th November – There will be no pre-bookable appointments, and we will concentrate on acute same day care.
While online services are unavailable, please call us on 0191 285 1763. for all your needs.
What you can do
We appreciate this is a temporary disruption to our normal service, but we believe it will have a long-term benefit for everyone. Here’s how you can help us:
- Please be patient with staff. We will be working hard as ever to help you, but please be aware things may take longer during this time.
- Order any repeat prescriptions no later than 30th October to ensure we can process them.
- Consider other options such as Pharmacy First for common conditions like sore throats, UTIs. You don’t need an appointment, or to see us first.
- Allow extra time for all request during this period as processing will take longer and demand will be higher.
An Important Note on the NHS App
We anticipate that the NHS App will be unavailable to Park patients during the switch over.
Remember, you can still access advice, guides and NHS 111 online at 111.nhs.uk.
When the switch to SystmOne is complete, some patients will need to re-register for the NHS App.
If you set up your verified your identification in the NHS App when you first set it up, then your access should continue.
However, if we verified your ID in the practice when you first requested online access, then you will need to set up the NHS App and login again.
To help, you can take a look at our guides on getting started with the NHS App.
We would encourage all patients to sign up for the NHS App.