NHS Ayrshire & Arran is implementing Clinical Portal system in conjunction with document scanning to replace paper based case notes in an outpatient setting. A review of Referral Management Services (RMS) identified that a significant number of referrals continue to be received via paper. Risks associated with paper referrals include a time lag at the start of the patient’s pathway as well as the potential for the referral to get “lost”. It is difficult to establish exactly how many referrals are received to the RMS but an audit from 29 February to 4 March 2016 established that 428 paper referrals were delivered during that week.
Aim: By September 2016 70% of internal referrals from Dermatology to Oral Maxillo-Facial Services will be generated and received electronically to the Referral Management Service (RMS) within 2 weeks of referral date.
