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On 8 May 2025, Northern Ireland will mark a significant moment in health and social care history as the Southern and Western Health and Social Care Trusts officially Go-Live with encompass, the new electronic health care record system.
The encompass programme, which has been progressively implemented across Northern Ireland since November 2023, replaces outdated paper records with real-time up-to-date digital information accessible to all those involved in delivering care. For the first time, every citizen in Northern Ireland will have their own digital health and social care record.
As part of this transformation, all patients and service users across Northern Ireland will have the option of accessing parts of their own healthcare records via the secure online patient portal called My Care.
As the Southern Trust makes its final preparations for implementation Dr Stephen Austin, Medical Director said: “Since starting our encompass journey around three years ago, a huge amount of energy and effort has gone in to getting us to our current state of readiness. Thanks to the hard work of all staff right across our organisation. This is an exciting time for the Southern Trust as we embrace this digital transformation. We look forward to realising the benefits of a paper light health and social care system with real-time access to information which will ultimately help to improve service user experience and outcomes.”
Dr. Dermot Hughes, Senior Responsible Owner for encompass, emphasised the significance of this achievement: “The completion of the encompass rollout across each health and social care trust is a landmark for Northern Ireland as a whole, positioning us as a leader in healthcare innovation, with an integrated digital system that prioritises the highest quality of patient care and safety.”
“encompass has already demonstrated its potential to transform healthcare delivery in the South Eastern, Belfast and Northern Trusts, and the Southern and Western Trusts are proud to join their counterparts in embracing this digital future.”
