System C's CareFlow Connect selected for new fast-track clinical communications framework

System C’s CareFlow Connect has been awarded a place on the Clinical Communication Tools framework, a new procurement framework set up by NHS X to accelerate the adoption of digital communication tools and help meet the government’s 2021 deadline for phasing out the use of pagers.

It means acute trusts, Integrated Care Systems and other NHS organisations are able to buy digital communication and care co-ordination tools directly from System C, without any further procurement delay. 

The framework is funded to the tune of £3m, and will remain open for two years, with a possible additional 12-month extension.

System C’s CareFlow Connect app, already well-established across the NHS, has seen a rapid acceleration in adoption in the last 5 months on the back of multiple accelerated deployments in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis. 

All doctors, nurses and care professionals at Kettering General Hospital NHS  Trust, for example, are now using CareFlow Connect to communicate securely through patient identified text and picture messaging, receive alerts on deteriorating patients and manage handovers and referrals, as part of an initiative to co-ordinate care, improve patient safety and keep staff safer. 

Photos, updates and alerts are shared quickly between teams away from the bedside, reducing the need for face to face contact and for changes of PPE.

Similarly, over 3,500 clinicians at North Bristol NHS Trust went live with CareFlow Connect in March.

As well as integrating with an EPR, CareFlow Connect can be integrated with shared care records for use across a care community.

Ian Denley, joint chief executive of System C, said that providing clinical teams with digital tools that understand team based clinical workflows was essential to phase out the use of the pager and ‘bits of paper in pockets’ across the NHS, as well as to improve safety and efficiency.

“This is a great opportunity for Trusts to make very rapid progress in terms of accelerating their digital transformation programme,” he said.  “As part of an integrated EPR, CareFlow’s benefits extend way beyond instant messaging to cover all key team based clinical workflows including patient list management, alerting, handover, task management, photo sharing and team to team referral.”