by Dr Kesten Challen and Nicky Teare

Migration

Eighteen months after a System 5 to Synergy migration we are all feeling pleased with ourselves - well prepared for Quality and Outcomes, paperlight and with computerised records in good shape, with all staff members toeing the line; and moans about Meditel/ Torex/ whatever they are called now no longer being the number one practice coffee-room subject!

However it has been a pretty rough ride, especially at times when it was difficult to imagine that we would ever reach the relative contentment we have now reached.

Who are we?

We are a semi-rural, training and teaching pratice with 9,200 patients of which 25% are dispensing. Nicky Teare, IT manager, has been running the (computer) show since late 1980's (after setting up the initial age/sex register from 1983). Kesten Challen became a GP partner in 1993 when Dr Norman Stoddart retired: she inherited the IT mantle on the ‘you're the only one with a PC at home… you can lead on IT' dream ticket!

We had been Meditel since 1988 but had data from a home-grown system predating that. There was a lot of data: reasonably tidy but far from perfect. We were running System 5, and wanted to upgrade to Synergy. We were GMS at migration but went PMS 10 days later!

What did we wish we'd known at the outset?

How worthwhile it is in the end. Blind faith is hard to maintain.

It took us much longer than anticipated to feel comfortable and the master of the system: a full year at least. The emphasis, I guess, is different now: you have to migrate somewhere, quickly, so the burden of convincing staff and partners that you are doing the right thing is lifted.

 

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