NHS England's Health and Justice Department has implemented OpenText Analytics to improve the services it can provide to prisoner patients around the country.
It means the department is able to collect and analyse data provided by a range of different services, such as prisoner immunisations and vaccination records, substance abuse treatments and prison medical service waiting times
This information is then shared with the NHS, with the relevant information used to improve facilities, commission new services for use by prisons and improve the reporting of key performance indicators, including reflecting the needs of patients and quality of care.
"The ability to understand data is beneficial to managing health and justice," Michael McGonnell, deputy head of commissioning for NHS England in Cumbria & North East, said.
"Prisoner patients tend to have very specific health needs which have to be taken into account when procuring and delivering our services. This solution gives us the ability to turn very complex data into very valuable information, which enables us to significantly improve how we commission our services."
Key stakeholders in both the NHS and prison service are able to access the insights quickly so they can act upon data points. Additionally, they can compare how one particular prison is performing against others in the country and run deep analysis on changes in the system, from one dashboard.
"Going forward, access to this insight means we can make any necessary improvements, to continue to ensure healthcare for prisoners is delivered to the highest level," Michael McGonnell finished.
