ENCOMPASS is the new digital recording system for patient records and it is now live within all of the hospital trusts within Northern Ireland. It used to be the case that patient notes from hospital consultations were “written up” by health professionals and then typed up by admin staff. At the same time you would have seen hand written patient notes attached to the bottom of patient beds within hospital wards and in ED. This is no longer the case. Now everything regarding patient details and medical interventions are recorded digitally and on the go.
And you, as a patient, have access to many but not all of these details right now. For instance, one you have blood drawn within any hospital trust, the results are usually available on the “My Care” app within hours. And in this case you can see whether or not you readings are within range and, if out of range, on the low or high spectrum. Also new appointment details will be pinged to your phone via the app . Future developments will mean that you will be able to change appointment dates and times within the app to ones that suit you better and even to send messages to staff.
Please note though, at this time, “My Care” does not include primary care records; those are your GP records or the results of tests carried out by your GP. And all previous historical hand written notes will not be made available to the digital system.
In order to be able to do all of this you will need to access the “My Care” portal within DHCNI by downloading an app from your app store called “My Chart“. When you download the app it will install “My Care” on to your phone. Full information can be found here to fully help you to understand the benefits of the system https://dhcni.hscni.net/digital-portfolio/encompass/my-care/?csrt=16420198896327286096
