The Somerset Integrated Digital e-Record (SIDeR+) and how it is working for St. Margarets Hospice

November 20th 2024

St. Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset has been the pioneers in a new piece of technology to support social care in the southwest, the Somerset Integrated Digital e-Record (SIDeR+). SIDeR, a shared care record system, was launched in November 2020 and it was this point St. Margaret’s Hospice joined the system. This shared care records gives an overview of individuals health and social care information in one digital record. SIDeR+ has information from all Somerset GP Practices, Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (Musgrove Park Hospital, Yeovil District Hospital, community and mental health services), Somerset Council Adult and Children’s Social Care, Public Health Nursing, The Blackdown Practice in Devon, several border Dorset GP Practices, and St Margaret’s Hospice. It also holds a number of Care Plans so that all teams involved in a person’s care know what matters to them most and how they would like to be treated. 

SIDeR+ ensures the right information is available to the right person, at the right time, enabling health and social care professionals in Somerset to see the most up-to-date information about individuals when they attend to receive care. 

Cyber security is paramount for the SIDeR+ team and they require of members to have completed the Data Security Protection Tooolkit (DSPT).  

Information from across the NHS in Somerset plus Somerset Council and St Margaret’s Hospice is available 24 hours a day, reducing a large amount of time spent checking details from multiple sources and/or delaying the most appropriate treatment (e.g. for example, when a GP practice is not open at the time.) 

In February 2024 St. Margaret’s Hospice data was updated as they needed to pull through the data from their new S1 system. As a result of the updates usage has drastically increased by the hospice.  

Ian Lintern, Clinical Systems Manager from St. Margarets Hospice says, “before SIDeR+ we had access to some systems, but not all, and we had to log in to several different accounts. You just press one button and you have access straight away to all the information.”  

Ian and his team feel the benefits to signing up to SIDeR+ include: 

• A wide variety of teams have access to the system including community nurses, in patient teams, physio care, spiritual care and front line team  

• It has reduced the hours staff spend on admin so their time is used better on care 

• Less need for repetition of medical history  

• All different teams can access the same information meaning less unnecessary appointments 

•  Time and discomfort saved on repeating information  

• Access to historical notes for all teams quickly again saving time   

Lessons learnt: 

• It has been a slow journey and a culture change for some members of staff.  

• Tech issues have arisen but are being ironed out in the next version  

• Some stakeholders slower to come on board and share their information so even better understanding will come when the final few join  

It is early in the life cycle of this project for St. Margaret’s Hospice and both the hospice and the SIDeR+ team are working closely together to improve the user experience. Ian feels, “it is very much going in the right direction, the team have given us what we asked for and the clinicians are using it. We look forward to the final few partners coming on board.”