GM SAT developed into an electronic system used throughout the country
The Greater Manchester Stroke Assessment Tool (GM-SAT) has proved to be a popular device for providing six month reviews, a requirement of the National Stroke Strategy, for people who have been discharged from hospital following a stroke.
GM-SAT is currently being used across the NHS, by a variety of different service providers, and has been identified by the National Stroke Improvement Programme as an example of best practice when it comes to delivering a six month review. Now, one part of England has built on this work and gone one step further, developing a novel electronic version of the tool.
In 2011, the West Yorkshire Cardiovascular Network (WYCN) and Wakefield District PCT approached the Yorkshire & Humber SHA Programme for IT to add a stroke review template to the suite of clinical templates in TPP SystmOne, (an electronic patient management system used across Primary Care). These templates support people with long term conditions (LTC) who need personalised care plans. Following on from the work of the GM CLAHRC, the project team selected to use GM-SAT as the basis for this template, adapting it for use in TPP SystmOne which is now live.
Gillian Richardson from WYCN said: “We were looking for a tool for health professionals to use that could provide both a personal approach when it comes to individual care plans, and also a standard of best practice for staff to follow. As it is evidence-based and has already been proven to work, GM-SAT was an ideal platform on which to base the templates within TPP SystmOne.
“As TPP SystmOne is an electronic tool, we’ve taken the original paper-based model and used it to create an electronic document that healthcare staff can fill in. It also provides GPs with the necessary coding for their records at the same time.”
A robust shared recording process also avoids people with stroke having to be asked to give repeated information at every assessment, and collates information gathered at a range of consultations to provide a more holistic picture. Anyone from the clinical team in primary or community care who has access to TPP SystmOne can use the templates, therefore they support a very flexible approach to carrying out the 6 month reviews.
The West Yorkshire team worked closely with Knowledge Transfer Associate, Katy Rothwell, who led on the GM-SAT development for GM CLAHRC. Katy said: “It’s great to see that people have taken the original work that makes GM-SAT such a useful tool and developed it for their own needs. I originally met the West Yorkshire team at an event where we presented the GM-SAT and helped when necessary on the development. It’s great to see it finished and being used by staff for the benefit of stroke patients and their carers.”
Gillian Richardson added: “The stroke template is now live and the feedback we’ve had so far has been excellent. I’d like to thank Katy and the team at GM CLAHRC for their input into the template.”
As well as being used across Yorkshire and the Humber, anyone who uses TPP SystmOne can access and download the new template.
Date Published: 24/05/2012