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Manchester Primary Care Trust in the UK has developed an information technology (IT) system to help with their Chlamydia screening programme.
The Manchester chlamydia programme is one of 16 created after the UK’s Department of Health introduced the National Chlamydia Screening Programme in 2002.
The new computerised management and audit system automatically collects and records laboratory data and can handle high volumes of information.
It was created to centrally co-ordinate patients who pass through the screening process and improve communication between the 100 plus organisations involved in chlamydia screening.
It is also hoped the system will reduce administrative time, enhance service provision and streamline the screening process.
“Before the programme was launched, we began a review of our IT requirements as we realised that without a rhobnust system, the programme would fial,” says Emma Flynn, programme manager for the screening service.
“Becoming a paper-based office was simply no feasible … as it would become a slow and laborious task and we had to reduce the time in which it was taking to collate relevant data for Department of Health reports.”
The system no effectively manages and coordinates the entire screening programme for Greater Manchester.
Flynn adds: “Everything is just a much smoother process now, no more manual letters and staff have more time to complete their responsibilities and deal with the patients and care. This has improved ten fold through the better management and accuracy of clinical and patient information.”
