Our newsletters are back!
We have been working diligently behind the scenes and the UCP has some exciting developments on the way. To keep you informed, we will be resuming our monthly newsletter where we will share all the latest updates with you.
Expanding the UCP
Later this year, the UCP will undergo a significant evolution. The care plan will be transformed into a personalised care and support plan, with patient preferences and wishes at the fore.
Users informed us that they wanted a care plan that could be used in collaboration with patients who may have other health needs, such as long-term conditions, and may not necessarily be receiving end-of-life care or palliative care. The new template has been expanded to include forms and data fields that will provide a richer picture of the person receiving care regardless of their health condition.
The UCP remains a tool for advance care planning. None of the existing fields will be removed, and all information will be automatically transferred over to the new, expanded template.
The date of the new template release has not been confirmed yet. At the earliest it will be December 2024. We will ensure users are given at least 2 months’ notice.
Users do not need to do anything at this time. We will share updates and training resources each month here. The key messages are also available on our website.
Patient Access to the UCP is evolving
The UCP has been available for patients to view via their NHS login since March 2024. It can be accessed via the NHS login website or NHS App. We have been seeing a growing number of patients viewing their UCP each month and we look forward to new functionality being available soon.
From this summer we will be unhiding the emergency care and treatment plan section for patients. This will mean patients will have the opportunity to view their cardiopulmonary resuscitation status and emergency treatment plan, providing them with a personal record of their decisions.
Most excitingly, we are working hard to provide editable access to patients via the NHS login service. This will allow patients to enter important information about themselves including what matters to them and personal preferences. Providing this information to health and social care professionals will give further insight into how they wish to be assessed and treated.
Over 5,000 sickle cell patients have a UCP
On 14 March, the UCP undertook its first major transformation to support people in London with sickle cell disease. The UCP now contains specific directives for paramedics, emergency departments, and wards to help care for someone experiencing a pain crisis.
Since the launch, over 5,000 new care plans have been created and completed by haematology teams in London, providing personalised and specific information for each person and clear guidance for urgent care staff. Between March and August 2024, 361 patients with sickle cell have had their care plans viewed by London Ambulance or 111 services, compared to 40 patients in the same period last year.
UCP Monthly Report
The UCP telephone number has changed
Technical support will now be provided by the South West London ICB IT Service Desk. The new number is 0203 513 6464 (select option 3) and can be found on our website. This number is to assist Health and Care Professionals with technical support related to the Universal Care Plan application only. If you have a general query or are a member of the public, please email us.
Deletion of empty care plans to help urgent care services
Care plans that do not contain any information will now be deleted after 31 days. We recommend that professionals only initiate a patient’s UCP and confirm consent when they are ready to start entering information in the care plan.
We have implemented this change to help urgent care services as care plans without any information still flag in their systems. By deleting empty care plans, we are reducing operational impact to urgent services in time critical situations.
If a UCP is deleted due to it being empty, it can be started again and completed for the patient at any time.
Changes to Internet Explorer 11 support
In the future, the UCP will no longer support the Internet Explorer 11 (IE11) browser due to security reasons. Users whose clinical application uses IE11 will now see a message when they are viewing care plans in the UCP but there is no action required at this stage. We are already working with London trusts and organisations to resolve any browser upgrades.
UCP Champions
Thank you to all of our champions who attended our ‘champions workshop’ last week.
Our champions group help us to raise awareness of the UCP. The group is open to anyone employed in health and social care in London. If you would like to be part of our champions group, email us, we’d love to have you on board!
Dates for the Diary
19th September 2024 – Nick Tigere, Head of the UCP Programme, will be speaking about the UCP at Better’s ‘how to make personalised care a reality?’ webinar. More information and how to register can be found here
27th September 2024 – We will be attending Richmond’s Full of Life Fair. Follow the link to find out more and register.