Connect NENC integrates with Great North Care Record (GNCR) joining together two regional initiatives

Connect NENC, the regions digital patient referral platform, launched in 2024, now holds over 20,000 referrals from across Trusts in NENC. A single regional collaboration system that simplifies current complex referral links between sites and enables two-way collaboration including advice, guidance, MDT and OPD reviews.

With over 3000 health professionals using Connect NENC, from across several specialities, the next logical step was to share this information with GNCR.  As more and more specialities onboard to Connect NENC, the integration with GNCR will provide near real time updates as new services onboard.

Nikhil Premchand, Consultant Physician and CCIO  at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, 
is the SRO for Connect NENC. Nikhil showcased the latest developments of ConnectNENC at the NENC SDN 2026 Digital Conference outlining the benefits and importance of collaboration and information sharing across our health and care professionals.

Edwin Wong, Consultant Nephrologist at Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the clinical leads on Connect NENC.

“The integration between connect-NENC and Great North Care Record is a natural but very important step in the development of these two regional projects.
This integration means that all discussions between clinicians across trusts in the region, that is documented in a referral within Connect-NENC, is uploaded to the patient’s shared record within GNCR.

The automation of this process at the point of submitting a referral and closing a referral ensures maximal data integration without the need for additional clinician or administrator time”

The connection to GNCR with ConnectNENC went live 11 February 2026 enabling any new referral created to be sent and stored within GNCR.  There are over 20,000 referrals in ConnectNENC and these will be sent to GNCR over the coming weeks to ensure there is full visibility of referrals that has been opened and closed from across the region.

Training and Resources

GNCR training is available to support direct patient care in the North East and North Cumbria. Bespoke training can be arranged upon request. Please email us to book: nuth.gncr@nhs.net.

Regular training sessions for GNCR are available via MS Teams.  Use this booking link.

If you have any feedback or if you would like to know more about GNCR, please contact a member of the team at nuth.gncr@nhs.net .