Guidance

Laboratory user guide: newborn outcomes solution

Updated 21 September 2021

Access the solution

Laboratories use the sickle cell and thalassaemia (SCT) newborn outcomes solution to send referrals to nursing or treatment centres.

The solution is only available on an N3 connection (NHS secure).

Access the solution here.

Login

To access the sickle cell and thalassaemia (SCT) newborn solution, login with the username provided to you.

You must use the link in your welcome email to set your password.

If you need access to the solution please contact your local solution administrator. If you do not know who this is please contact the helpdesk.

National SCT newborn outcomes system helpdesk

Email support@mdsas.com

Telephone 0161 277 7917

Lost or forgotten password

If you have lost or forgotten your password for the solution, you can use the ‘forgotten your password?’ link below the login section to reset it.

You will then be asked to enter your username and select ‘email link’.

The solution will:

• prompt you to enter your registered email address
• send an email containing a link

Follow the link in the email to reset your password.

Create a new referral

As a laboratory user, you must use the solution to refer babies who screen positive for SCT. The solution is easy to use and the following steps outline how to create a referral.

1. Click the ‘new referral’ button at the top-right of your patient listing.
2. Select ‘Refer To’ and choose the appropriate destination for the referral. At the top of the drop-down list are centres within the laboratory network. The laboratory can also refer to centres outside of their network, listed below the network list.
3. Enter the details of the child and test result.
4. Check you have entered all the necessary information.
5. Click ‘submit’ to send the referral to the destination centre.

Required fields are marked with an asterisk ( * ). You must complete these fields before you can submit the referral. The form also checks data entered in certain fields to help avoid data entry errors.

The ‘date of screening result’ field refers to the date that the test was completed and a result was processed. This is likely to be the day it is entered into the solution. It is not automatically populated as the test may have been completed late the day before it is entered into the solution.

Select the child’s newborn screening result from the drop-down list.

Save as draft

The laboratory can save a copy of a referral before submitting it to the destination referral centre. Saving a copy enables the laboratory to perform a second check of a referral before it is sent.

1. At any point after the record has been created, the user can select ‘save as draft’. This will save the information entered, close the record and take the user back to the laboratory’s homepage.
2. The record will be displayed on the laboratory’s homepage highlighted as ‘not yet sent’.
3. The laboratory can then access the record for a second time by clicking on the child’s NHS number, check the information entered and complete any additional fields before selecting ‘send referral’.
4. When ‘send referral’ is selected, a summary box will appear. The user is required to check the details and select ‘submit referral’.
5. The referral will go to all users assigned to the destination referral centre.

Monitor your referrals

Once you have submitted a referral, the child’s details appear on your patient listing.

You can amend the child’s record until the referral is accepted by the nursing or treatment centre. To do this, click on the NHS number in the patient listing. This will take you to the child’s details, where you can make any changes.

Once the patient has been accepted by another centre, they will no longer appear on your patients list by default and will have to be searched for using ‘include historic patients’. The record is updated as further information is entered by counsellors and clinicians along the screening pathway.

Search for a child

To find a specific child’s record in your patient listing, use the search box above the patent listing to search for a record by:

• NHS number
• laboratory reference number
• surname

If you do not see the record you’re looking for, select the ‘include historic patients’ box under the search button. This will show records for children who have been discharged from the pathway or referred on to another centre.

Notifications and reminders

The solution sends notification emails to update you on the progress of patients through the pathway. This includes when a referral is accepted by a nursing or treatment centre.

The solution will automatically monitor important pathway dates to assist with:

• standard 8 (timely reporting newborn screen positive results to parents)
• standard 9 (timely follow up, diagnosis and treatment of newborn infants with a positive screening result)

Read the standards for sickle cell and thalassaemia screening.

When relevant dates have not been entered into the solution within the time limit specified in the standards, the solution will generate reminders until the data is completed or the patient is discharged.

Immediate notifications

Key events in the patient pathway will generate an automatic notification to any centres involved in the care of the child. Centres will be notified when:

• a child is referred to another centre (for example, from a nursing centre to a medical centre)
• dates for standards 8 and 9 are entered

Scheduled notifications

When an event is recorded, the solution will automatically monitor patient records to provide reminders when key data has not been entered, or when a patient referral is outstanding. This ensures that all centres involved in the child’s care are prompted to complete pathway data, without need of manual chasing by labs.

Users will receive reminders from the solution:

• daily when a referral has been created but not accepted
• weekly when the result has not been reported to parents within the Standard 8 timeframe
• weekly when the child has not had a first treatment appointment within the Standard 9 timeframe

Declined referrals

If you accidentally refer a baby to the incorrect centre, the centre will be able to decline the referral. When they decline they will need to leave a message explaining why they have declined.

You will receive a direct communication from the helpdesk notifying you of the decline and you will need to resubmit the referral.

Reports

The solution provides a suite of automatic reports. You will see a ‘reports’ link on the top navigation menu on all screens.

The list of available reports is tailored to each type of user, depending on their role and the centre they are attached to.

Currently, reports are available on the solution to give users:

• a summary of patients by result type and demographic details
• a data quality report
• performance against standards 8 and 9

Reports can be:

• filtered by date
• exported in a variety of formats such as Word, PDF and Excel

Audit history

Every patient record includes an audit history. This details any changes made to the record since the creation of the record.

1. Open the patient record.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the form.
3. Select the ‘audit history’ button to view the list of all changes made to the record and who made them.

Training

Training can be accessed by contacting NBOsupport@phe.gov.uk

Training can be held via MS Teams and will take up to 30 minutes to complete.