PGDs - Patient Group Directions Website

System Summary

Client: NHS Executive (North West)

URL: www.groupprotocols.org.uk

 Written in Access 97 and Active Server Pages, this system provides a facility for clinicians to share Patient Group Directions - protocols by which a clinician can administer drugs without a doctor being present.

BradSoft provided the initial development skills and ongoing technical support. There is a pharmaceutical clinician involved in the project to administer any clinical aspects (such as approving PGDs for publication on the website).

In order that drugs can be administered without a doctor being present, each organisation within the NHS must create a Patient Group Direction which is a legal document relating to a particular clinical situation and drug.  This means that there are potentially huge savings to be made if one organisation develops a PGD and it can be used as a starting point by other organisations.

The web site is effectively an interface to a database which stores categorised PGDs, allowing users to search for relevant items.  The PGD itself can then be downloaded as a Word document for modification to local requirements. 

Key Benefits

• National dissemination point for standardised documents and associated guidance.
• Massive productivity gains.  A typical PGD might take days of work to develop, use of existing documents can vastly reduce the effort required.
• Peer review.  By sharing such documents, there is an inherent peer review process, improving the quality of support and protection for clinicians and patients.

Sample screens

 
The home page of the PGD site, showing some of the search options