New digital form at Blood Borne Virus Outpatient Clinic streamlines consultation notes

Clinicians at a Cardiff and Vale Blood Borne Virus Outpatient Clinic are using a new electronic form to record consultation notes for patients with Hepatitis C.

Developed by the NHS Wales Informatics Service,  the electronic Hepatitis C Consultation note is available through the Welsh Clinical Portal. The form automatically populates a number of fields, such as the patient's name, address, and NHS Number, using existing systems. It captures blood test results across Wales, no matter where they were taken, through the Welsh Results Reporting Service  and can apply the results to calculate scores used in disease management.

The completed form becomes part of the patient's electronic medical record in the Welsh Clinical Portal and over time creates a history of the patient's diagnosis and treatments, as well as fibroscan, liver biopsy and alcohol history.

"The form pulls together all the critical information that I need on my patient and also calculates risk scores that are helpful in patient management," says Brendan Healy, Consultant in Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) who provided clinical support to the development of the electronic form. "This is an exciting development that will deliver better service with better outcomes for patients."