GNCR ambassador case study – Peter Jones, Pharmacist, Newcastle Hospitals
Peter Jones works as an advanced clinical pharmacist, specialising in acute medicine at Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. His role focuses on medicine safety, ensuring accurate medicine management between primary and secondary care to support continuity of care during admission and discharge.
Additionally, he is actively involved with inpatient medication reviews and holds prescribing responsibilities.
How Peter uses the Great North Care Record
Since the launch of the Great North Care Record (GNCR), Peter has consistently used it to allow him to quickly access a patient’s drug history. This reduces the amount of time consulting multiple sources and improves accuracy in patient care, while saving time.
Working in acute medicine means Peter sees new patients for the first time, multiple times a day. With GNCR he can access the patient’s records immediately while speaking with them.
“Although we use the Great North Care Record for every single patient as a starting point, it’s particularly useful when dealing with patients who are acutely confused, come from nursing homes, or can’t communicate clearly. That’s when GNCR really proves its value.
“From there, we cross-reference it with other sources – ideally the patient themselves – who is often the most accurate source when they’re able. It’s become a core part of the initial steps we take with every patient.”
Why the Great North Care Record makes a difference
The GNCR has made several impacts in the delivery of care for organisations across the North East and North Cumbria. For example, when it comes to GP and medication records, pharmacists can see any allergies/sensitivities and access encounter information, as well as diagnoses, in an easily, accessible form.
In Peter’s view, if he didn’t have access to GNCR it would completely change how he communicates – relying more on phoning or emailing GP surgeries for information, which leaves a higher chance of things going wrong.
“GNCR has been a massive game changer for us. When the system came in, not only did it make our lives a lot easier with instantly available information, but it also made it easily accessible to all the medical staff. There are no delays, and everyone has better information access.
“It’s about the information being available to the right people at the right time so things get done more quickly. For me, it’s indispensable – having instant access to the information that is key for us to do our job.”
