The Trust provides a comprehensive range of acute healthcare services to a resident population of 280,000 and an additional 100,000 holidaymakers who visit the region each year. The HIE is funded through the “Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards” Technology Fund.

HealthShare will aggregate and integrate patient healthcare information across health and social care services to deliver an integrated digital care record for patients regardless of the care location or service. The system will provide a clinical portal for clinicians working across the entire care network, including acute, community, mental health, social care, and general practitioner services.

It will also provide advanced analytics to translate the data into meaningful insights, both to improve care to patients and to allow local Trusts to better understand cost and resourcing needs across all clinical services.

In line with the Trust's IT strategy, the goal of the HIE is not simply to share information, but also enable the Trust to develop solutions to problems in the local health economy. HealthShare enables the Trust to be scalable and adaptable to address future NHS growth or reorganisation and to be flexible in response to any future change in the size or geography of the Trust's responsibility.

Dr. Mike Green, Consultant Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon and Chief Clinical Information Officer of South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, explained the key role filled by HealthShare, "Our vision is to be the best provider of healthcare services, delivering excellence in all that we do. To achieve this, we recognise that the most significant gains are made when NHS organisations work together in partnership to ensure that care does not break down at the boundaries of organisations."

Dr. Green added, "We need a system that is truly seamless, so that people receive the right care and support at the right time, in the right place - wherever that may be. We will now be able to manage patients’ care in a more joined up way, across the community, in primary and acute areas."

Known for being at the forefront of joined up care, the region's Trusts are part of the Integrated Care Pioneers programme endorsed by Norman Lamb MP (Minister of State for Care and Support). The programme invites local Trusts to demonstrate the use of ambitious and innovative approaches to deliver person-centred, coordinated care and support.

Gary Hotine, Director of the Health Informatics Service, South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, provides insight into being a pioneer: "We are firmly committed to delivering integrated care across our health system. To this end, we were looking for a dynamic and flexible system. We already use two InterSystems products, the Ensemble integration platform and the Caché high-performance database, and HealthShare builds on these technologies. Our in-house IT team will implement the system, with training and mentoring from InterSystems, which puts us in control and ensures we need not rely on a third party to deliver the integrated digital care records."

Dr. Jo Roberts, the South Devon and Torbay CCG Clinical Lead for Innovation, Engagement and Communication, said, "As a general practitioner, I am very aware of the pressures within primary care caused by patient information failing to pass between care settings. The HealthShare platform will facilitate joined up care for the benefit of patients wherever care is delivered in the region."

Steve Garrington, Vice President, International, InterSystems, "InterSystems is delighted that the Trust chose HealthShare as the strategic interoperability platform to support its pioneering approach, which was recognised by a Technology Fund award. We look forward to working with South Devon to deliver integrated care records across local and regional health communities."

Dr. Mike Green will be speaking at the upcoming InterSystems Joined-Up Health & Care event on 7 October and will share the Trust's vision to design and deliver more joined-up health and care services for the local community. To find out more and register for the event, click here.

Related news articles:

• InterSystems' Profile

About South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
South Devon Healthcare was one of the first NHS Trusts (established in 1991) and was authorised as one of the early NHS Foundation Trusts in 2007, and has a large public membership. It runs Torbay Hospital and has a reputation for innovation.

The South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust catchment area covers 300 square miles - from South Dartmoor to the length of coastline which stretches from the mouth of the River Exe (Dawlish), past the Teign and Dart estuaries (beyond Dartmouth).

South Devon Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust, which provides community health and social care, are planning to join together in 2015 to create a single Integrated Care Organisation.

The Trust is a member of the Government's Integrated Care Pioneers Scheme, a programme, inviting local areas to demonstrate the use of ambitious and innovative approaches to deliver person-centred, co-ordinated care and support.

About InterSystems
InterSystems develops advanced software technologies that enable breakthroughs. With a passion for excellence and a focus on client success, InterSystems provides data management, strategic interoperability, and analytics platforms used in healthcare, financial services, government, and other industries. In selected countries, InterSystems also offers unified healthcare applications, based on its core technologies, that deliver on the promise of connected healthcare. Founded in 1978, InterSystems is a privately held company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), with offices worldwide, and its products are used daily by millions of people in more than 100 countries.