Northern Trust: ‘Challenges and learning’ three months on from encompass Go-Live

Teams from across the Northern Health and Social Care Trust came together this week to reflect on the rollout of encompass, three months on from going live with the digital patient and client record system.

Neil Martin, Director of Strategic Planning, Performance and ICT with the Trust said: “Prior to going live with encompass in November, we had a series of Go Live Readiness Assessments. Three months on, we’re now in our post-live phase so it was important for us to regroup and reflect on our encompass journey to date – to share some of the challenges and learning we have experienced, and to ensure we’re on track to deliver the benefits of encompass for our patients, service users, and staff.”

On November 7 2024, the Northern Trust was the third HSC Trust in the region to introduce encompass, following the successful implementation in South Eastern Trust and Belfast Trust.

Both Southern Trust and Western Trust will go live with encompass in May this year.

Chief Executive Jennifer Welsh said: “The introduction of encompass in our Trust represents a once-in-a-generation change in how we deliver health and social care to our community, and as with any change of this scale, it has not been without its challenges.

“Our staff have been incredible in learning to navigate the new encompass system and the months of training and preparation teams did in advance of our Go-Live, have really paid off.

“Of course, it’s still early days but now that encompass has been operating for three months, we have come together to look at how encompass is working across our Trust, identify any areas that may need some extra support, and share learning with our colleagues to ensure we remain on course to continue to deliver benefits for our wider community.”

While staff across the Trust have been adapting to the new way of working, some have been inspired to put pen to paper about their encompass experience.

District Nursing Sister, Lucy McKillop wrote a poem to sum up the journey she and colleagues have been on.

Lucy wrote: “Change is difficult, we all know this. It’s a struggle, it’s a battle and you want to give it a miss.

“The last few months have been really tough, but the Northern Trust is made of strong stuff.”

She went on: “We have learned from mistakes and constant reflection, and now we are all heading in the right direction…

“The hard days are fewer, but we are constantly learning…

“Go Live seems like a distant memory, continuing to embrace is the best remedy.”

Gillian Traub, Director of Operations with the Northern Trust, said: “We are extremely proud of our reputation of having a great team spirit here in Team North, and I think Lucy sums it up perfectly when she talks about us being “made of strong stuff”.

“The transition from paper records to digital has been a huge undertaking but we are already starting to see the benefits for our patients and service users, and for our staff too.

“I am immensely grateful to colleagues across our Trust, for their commitment and determination to make our encompass rollout such a success.”

Residents of the Northern Trust area have also been embracing this digital transformation with 24,000 people already signed up to the My Care app.

My Care gives people direct access to their healthcare record via a secure, online patient portal.

More information HERE