At the beginning of 2017, we thought it would be a good idea to catch up with the Information Sharing Gateway team at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay (UHMB) to find out how the project was getting on.
After winning the 2015 iNetwork Innovation Award for Effective Information Sharing & Security, we’d heard that the project had been going from strength to strength. We decided to speak to the team to find out more. Special thanks to Nicola Briggs, ISG Engagement Lead at UHMB for providing this update:
Video walk-through of the Information Sharing Gateway Sandpit
What is the Information Sharing Gateway and who is it for?
The Information Sharing Gateway (ISG) has been developed by IG specialists, for IG specialists, to support their IG reporting on data flows and information sharing. The purpose of this system is to provide assurance that the information being shared, managed and processed will be done so in such a way that is Data Protection Act compliant. It centralises and shares key resources in a way that is accessible and transparent.
Connect with your information sharing partners to create electronic sharing agreements ‘Sharing Made Simple’
Could you tell us a little about the background of the project, how did it begin and what were your goals at the outset?
The Information Sharing Gateway (ISG) has been developed by a sub-group of organisations in the Lancashire & Cumbria IG Group in order to improve and modernise the administration and risk assessment of information sharing.
The development was funded by the LPRES programme in Lancashire, to support the use of the LPRES healthcare information exchange platform. It is a generic tool and is not ‘tied’ to use with LPRES, although it is developed with the needs of sharing via interoperable systems in mind. It is a ‘next generation’ Sharing Framework that will adequately support electronic information sharing across care boundaries in a way that current, paper-based systems cannot.
How many organisations are currently using the tool?
1050 organisations are using the ISG as at March 2017. With 1624 registered users.
What have been the key achievements of the project so far?
- iNetwork Innovation Awards Winner 2015
- Contract to deploy across Greater Manchester as part of the GM Connect project
- Endorsement from the Information Governance Alliance
- Adopted as the ‘Tool of choice’ for sharing agreements across the SE as part of the Wrapt roll out
- Contract for the Connected Health Cities programme across the NE
- Positive backing and feedback from system users
What is your long term vision for the project, will you continue to develop the tool and expand engagement?
The ISG governance group has ambitious plans to develop the ISG:
- To become a repository for ‘live’ sharing agreements.
- Integrate with information sharing platforms through interoperable APIs to provide the IG layer for data access.
- Provide a data subject view of information sharing patterns.
- Expand the use of the ISG across the UK.
Expand the visibility of information sharing data to allow collaborative shared working practices.
How can people and organisations get involved?
For further information about the ISG please email: ISG@mbhci.nhs.uk
If you would like to try out the system, visit www.informationsharingsandpit.org.uk
If you are a contracting organisation and want to get involved with the User Group discussions and contribute to the direction of the system’s development, please email ISG@mbhci.nhs.uk