We understand that having the right digital tools is essential to providing the best patient care, that’s why we are looking for GP practices to inform, explore and test the new digital systems to make sure they are designed with users in mind. We are already working with 6 integrated care systems across England, covering more than 30 early adopter practices, and we’re looking for more practices to get involved.

The new core clinical systems developed through the early adopter programme will support general practice staff to spend more time addressing patient needs while also reducing administrative burden.

The early adopter programme is part of our new TIF, the third framework within the Digital Care Services catalogue, which provides innovative digital services across various health and care settings.

Through the TIF, we’re working with suppliers to introduce a choice of intuitive, innovative and modern systems which can integrate with wider healthcare organisations, such as community pharmacy and secondary care. We aim to drive higher standards and create a more dynamic market, while facilitating a seamless flow of data to support better outcomes for patients and clinicians.

The Digital Care Services catalogue is underpinned by a standardised capability model. This means all digital products are designed and built to the same consistent standards. The core clinical systems being developed through the TIF will offer a host of new capabilities and standards. They will be cloud-first, available over public internet, browser based, and offer a modern user experience and open APIs. The systems will also include new functionality for clinicians and patients and better data reporting. The required standards will help practices meet their obligations as set out in the digital and online service requirements.

Organisations can find, compare and order assured digital products and services from approved suppliers through the Buying Catalogue.

We appreciate the pressures facing general practice and understand they may have concerns about the required resource commitment. However, we will support practices throughout the process to ensure they can contribute to the programme in a way that works for them. We believe the benefits of implementing a new cloud-based digital system strongly outweigh the work involved in the initial stages.

As an early adopter of a new system, practices can access specialist assistance to help embed change, including advice, support, guidance, and an accessible toolkit of resources. Funding and support are available at each stage of the early adopter journey, including:

• discovery
• change planning
• implementation and migration
• post-migration

By joining the early adopter programme during the discovery phase, practices are not obligated to make any changes or move to the next phase. To qualify for funding, practices will need the support of their integrated care service.