Patients experience the benefits of new IT system

Changing your GP practice is now a walk in the park thanks to the introduction of a new IT system called GP2GP. GP surgeries in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale are now using the system which transfers a patient’s records securely from one surgery to another in a matter of minutes.

Peterloo Medical Centre in Middleton was the first practice in the area to receive an electronic transfer of a patient’s information from a practice with a different system in Bury.

Lesley Murphy from Peterloo Medical Centre said: “A patient asked if they could move to our practice which meant that all of the records would need to move across from their previous GP in Bury. Previously it could take up to six weeks to receive all of the paper records but now, thanks to the new GP2GP system, within a couple of minutes we had all of the information we needed to successfully treat the patient.

“This was particularly useful because the patient had to be urgently referred to hospital. The new system meant that it was possible to complete the referral with all of the relevant information, allowing the consultant to give the best possible care.”

Ms Murphy added: “The process is now much more efficient and that’s making a real difference to our patients. It’s a huge improvement and just shows the difference that having good IT systems can make.”