InContext May 2007
The NHS Information Governance Toolkit - fast track to a green light
Brian Ambler, LSC Group
Every NHS organisation is charged with delivering the highest quality care to its patients whilst employing best practice information governance. Information governance ensures compliance with legislation and NHS guidelines that address how to manage responsibly and securely all organisational information - particularly the personal information of patients and employees.
To help NHS organisations in England assess the current state of their information governance and to meet the NHS’ target standards, the Department of Health and NHS Connecting for Health jointly produce an Information Governance Toolkit (IGT). The IGT is a framework to bring together all of the requirements, standards and best practices that apply to the handling of information which includes the management of all organisational records - clinical and corporate. The IGT framework covers:
- Policies and responsibilities
- Strategies, design and implementation
- Records processes and controls
- Monitoring and auditing compliance with standards
- Training
Further information on the IGT, and how an organisation can start to use it, is available from the Connecting for Health IGT website.
The practical implementation of an IT solution to support a records management (RM) strategy can be a daunting task. In recognition of this, LSC Group offers RM “accelerator packs”. These packs deliver practical guidance on applying and implementing best practice records management as part of the IGT framework within any NHS organisation.
LSC's accelerator packs are a range of professional services that are easy to understand and that address specific challenges within the IGT. Importantly, each accelerator pack has a fixed deliverable, fixed duration and is delivered at a fixed price – as such, they provide an extremely low risk and fast route to compliance with the IGT.
Alternatively, combine accelerator packs with TRIM Context, TOWER Software’s Electronic Document and Records Management (EDRM) platform, to deliver a complete solution for implementing best practice, IT-based records management covering both clinical and non-clinical information. Current accelerator packs include:
- Business case development
- Benefits Realisation Plan development
- Information audit
- File Plan development
- HL7 (Health Language 7) Adaptor
- Lifecycle management (application of retention schedules)
- Data migration
- Data conversion
- Training
For more information on LSC Group and the RM accelerator packs, contact Brian Ambler on 01543 446800 or email: healthcare@lsc.co.uk
Back to InContext May 2007
LSC Group is an information and knowledge management consultancy and a TOWER Software Business Partner for the Healthcare market. The points of view and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of TOWER Software.
