Diabetes clinicians in Prince Charles Hospital are now using the national Diabetes Consultation Note to record and view patient information within the Welsh Clinical Portal (WCP).
Information recorded can be viewed nationally across all health boards ensuring key information relating to the management of the patient's diabetes is visible to clinicians at the point of care.
Diabetes consultants, diabetes specialist nurses and dietitians are among the first set of users to benefit from the functionality in the adult diabetes service. The Diabetes Consultation Note enables them to record and view readings, observations, diagnoses, medication including complex insulin regimens, blood glucose readings, clinical assessments and clinical notes. It also shows them the patient's most recent pathology test results relevant to the management of the condition e.g. HbA1c results. It can be used to support multiple settings in secondary care including outpatient clinics, inpatient stays, telephone contacts and group education.
A .pdf document of the consultation note is created in WCP, and is accessible by clinicians using the system across Wales. As part of the initial pilot, consultants are sending the .pdf document to the patient's GP practice which helps to cut down the delay between a patient being seen in clinic and the GP having a record of what was discussed including changes to medication and insulin regimens.
"The Welsh Information Solution for Diabetes Management (WISDM) will be a game changer and will bring about a paradigm shift in the way we manage diabetes and maintain patient records. It will bring all health care professionals involved in diabetes care under one roof and will ensure smooth, streamlined and continuous care for our patients. It would also improve communication amongst professionals and help to minimize mistakes. Moreover, the data stored can be used widely for training, audit and research purposes. In a digital world, this is a must and the way to go forward." Dr Gautam Das - Diabetes Consultant at Cwm Taf's Prince Charles Hospital
Royal Glamorgan and Withybush will be the next hospitals to adopt the electronic Diabetes Consultation Note. Podiatrists will be the next clinicians to use it, followed by the diabetes paediatric and antenatal services. It is then anticipated that it will be rolled out nationally for all diabetes clinicians across Wales to use.