8th May 2025
Today marks a historic achievement for Health and Social Care services in Northern Ireland as the Southern and Western Trusts officially Go-Live with encompass, the digital health care record system.
This means that for the first time in history, all Health and Social Care Trusts across Northern Ireland are now integrated into one digital system, signifying a major step forward in streamlining patient care.
With encompass now fully operational across Northern Ireland, patients and service users from across the region can benefit from My Care, the dedicated patient portal. My Care provides secure online access to personal health information and it has already over 120,000 users. Everyone is encouraged to sign up.
Siobhan Hanna, Southern Trust encompass Programme Director (Interim) said: “Today is a major milestone for Health and Social Care Delivery in Northern Ireland. Our Go-Live, alongside the Western Trust, means that for the first time, every provider of health and social care in Northern Ireland is using the same electronic record for every one of our citizens.”
“This has taken years of planning and collaboration right across the health and social care system. I am so grateful to everyone who has helped to achieve this – regional encompass team, Epic system supplier, other Trusts who have released staff as ‘Super Users’ to support our own staff in Southern Trust who are learning to use the system.”
“A huge thank you to our staff in Southern Trust. Our support teams in IT, Admin, Informatics, HR, Estates Services and Communications have been exceptional. And our frontline staff have embraced this new way of working engaging in training, assimilation activities and data migration – all on top of very busy workloads.”
“encompass represents a major step forward in how we deliver care, streamlining processes, improving safety, and enhancing patient outcomes across every part of Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.”
“encompass Go-Live is just the beginning. As we move forward, we will continue to listen, evolve and improve. Thank you for your commitment, your passion, and for being part of this transformation. Together, we are shaping a more efficient, modern and connected health and social care service for Northern Ireland.”
“Full implementation of encompass across Northern Ireland also brings significant benefits for patients, for example, results from tests and investigations done in local Trusts can be accessed by treating clinicians when a patient attends for care elsewhere and this is particularly beneficial for emergency and trauma care.”
“Finally digital transformation isn’t just about technology, it’s about culture. Our staff have been at the heart of this change. We want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank every person for the incredible effort, dedication, and resilience you have shown in getting us to this point. There has been a huge amount of hard work completed that has laid the foundation for a brighter and more connected future which will ultimately help to improve service user experience and outcomes.”
“Thank you all very much for your continued support during this time.”
Western Trust Chief Executive Neil Guckian Chief Executive paid tribute to staff as both the Western and Southern Trust went live this morning at 4am. He said: “This is a huge moment for the Trust but also for the HSC as a whole. Preparing for encompass has been an immense task and no one should underestimate the incredible effort of all staff from across our Trust for the many months of planning and training to get us ready for Go-Live.”
“I wish to thank our staff for their steadfast commitment to make Go-Live in our Trust a success. encompass will transform how we deliver care and improve experiences and outcomes for our patients and service users.”
Dr. Dermot Hughes, the Senior Responsible Owner for encompass, said: “A significant step for HSCNI has been achieved as encompass is now live in Southern and Western Trusts. This completes the roll-out of a single, unified digital care record across each health and social care Trust in Northern Ireland. This outcome is the result of many years of hard work and collaboration by thousands of staff, within Trusts, the core encompass team, the BSO and the DHCNI. I thank everyone involved for their commitment and expertise.”
“encompass will transform how we deliver care by making it safer, more connected and more patient-centric and by ensuring that the right information is available at the right time, no matter the location. It will transform patient experience and patient information. This is a proud day for the health and social care service and a powerful step towards a healthier future for all in Northern Ireland.”
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt said: “Today marks a significant milestone in Northern Ireland’s health and social care service, as the final two Health Trusts ‘Go-Live’ on encompass. Its introduction across the Trusts places Health and Social Care Northern Ireland in the forefront of digital transformation of health service delivery”.
“This has been a concerted effort across the whole of the Health and Social Care system since it was first announced in 2020, and I want to sincerely thank each of those who have played a key role in getting us here. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity and has allowed Northern Ireland to modernise our systems and fundamentally improve how we deliver care.”
Tom Simpson, Deputy Chief Digital Information Officer at the Department of Health and Director of Digital Health and Care Northern Ireland, said: “Today is a really important day for the transformation of our Health and Care sector. This isn’t just a new IT system, it is about changing how the sector works so that our staff have the right tools to deliver the best service for all in Northern Ireland”.
“encompass streamlines how care is delivered by giving care workers quick access to the right information at the right time. It eliminates heavy paper records, reduces repeat tests and helps pharmacists manage medicines more safely. It also provides better quality data to help improve services for the future and achieve better outcomes.”
