The way patients give their consent to treatments and procedures at hospitals across Hertfordshire and west Essex is changing, including at East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust.
A new electronic consent system (eConsent) is being introduced which will replace the paper consent forms to help improve patient experience and help relieve pressure on services as they recover from the pandemic.
We will be introducing eConsent in October 2022 in three of our departments – ear, nose and throat, general surgery, and urology, before rolling it out in other areas in the future.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust will also be adopting the new system.
The eConsent system enables patients to see information about their treatment and provide their consent online. The system uses a secure link sent by email and/or text message. Patients can also consent for procedures using a computer or tablet. If patients do not have a device at home, they can also give their consent online during an appointment or on the ward.
Moving to an electronic consent system will:
- Allow patients to have more time to review and understand information
- Mean fewer cancellations and delays to surgery/treatment
- Save time for clinicians and hospital administrators, allowing more time to care
- Enable more personalised information and better documentation
- Offer better patient engagement in shared decision making
- Enable remote consultations and care pathways; a face-to-face appointment isn’t always needed before the day of treatment.
All patient information is compliant with healthcare governance requirements. The system uses Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for all hosting and data processing, within a data centre in the UK.
How will I be contacted by Concentric?
You may receive information from your clinician via the Concentric system, either as an email from the email address [email protected] or as text message from a mobile contact named ‘Concentric’.
You can see the information any time before or after treatment.
What technology do I need to be able to give my consent online?
Concentric works on any modern web-enabled device and on different screen sizes (i.e., mobiles, tablets, laptops and desktop computers). Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Apple, Safari or Mozilla Firefox web browsers are fully supported by Concentric.
What do I do if I need technical help to use Concentric?
If you are having any issue in getting started with Concentric please email the Concetric support team: [email protected]
What do I do if I have a question about the planned treatment/procedure?
Although you may receive consent information online, you will still have had a conversation about the proposed treatment/procedure with the clinician responsible for your care. The information you receive from Concentric will include contact details for the hospital/department in case you have any follow-up questions.
