Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust
Welcome! This is a tailored guide for using Concentric at the organisation. It aims to support you in getting started as well as provide details regarding ongoing support should you need it.
About Concentric and why digital consent
Concentric is a digital consent application developed by a small clinically-led team solely focused on improving the consent process. You can read about the team and why we're working on Concentric in our about us page. Most healthcare software is difficult to use, slow, and gets in the way. We hope you soon agree that using Concentric feels pretty different.
After using Concentric, the vast majority of clinicians state that they prefer it to the traditional paper process, that the quality of the process is improved, and that their time is better utilised. Patients report improved shared decision making, accessible and clearly presented information, and appreciate that it allows them to revisit the information in their own time.
How is Concentric used?
This section contains a video and clinical safety considerations for clinician users. There is an alternative version of the video and information regarding appropriate use for 'read-only' users. The other sections on this page are relevant to all users.
This demo video shows how Concentric is used, walking through a few clinical scenarios. Some scenarios are not relevant for every clinician, for example the consent form 2 scenario, and can be skipped using the video sections.
Some workflows are discussed in the video but also have more detailed guides:
- Consent Form 2 - Agreement to treatment from an individual with parental responsibility
- Consent Form 4 - Treatment in best interests for an adult who lacks the capacity to consent
- Combined procedures - Combining more than one template to create a consent episode
Important clinical safety considerations
As part of using the Concentric application you confirm that you have read, understood, and agree to the following statements:
- It is your responsibility to read and adhere to the professional responsibilities and standards set out by the General Medical Council in their guidance, Decision Making and Consent.
- You maintain the clinical responsibility for the consent interaction and the appropriateness of consent information being selected, documented, and shared with the patient. The information within a treatment template may change over time as part of Concentric Health's review processes or due to local change requests. In most cases these changes will not be directly communicated to an individual clinician.
- Information provided within Concentric should be consistent with, and supplementary to a consent conversation between clinician and patient. Information shared as part of the Concentric process sits alongside but does not replace the need for a consent conversation.
- Where the clinician and patient do not share a spoken language professional interpretation services should be used to facilitate the consent conversation. Translated Concentric information can be used alongside, but should not be used instead of an interpreter.
- It is important that patients have access to their consent information. Whilst most patients will receive this digitally, consent information should be printed and shared with patients when digital access is not possible.
- To ensure the security of patient health data and reliability of the audit trail you must log out following use, and you must not share access credentials. All interactions within Concentric are linked to your account.
- When needing to enter patient contact details you should ensure accurate data entry so that information is successfully received and not inappropriately shared with a different individual.
- You must only view a patient's consent information where you have a legitimate professional reason for doing so.
- The clinician receiving the patient's consent automatically adds an electronic signature as part of going through the consent flow with the patient or by enabling remote consent. The signature is associated with the following statements:
- I have explained the surgery, including the intended benefits and serious - or frequently occurring risks described in this document.
- I have discussed what the surgery is likely to involve, the benefits and risks of any alternative treatment (including no treatment), and any particular concerns.
Support, updates, and contact details
Dudley Group specific onboarding and support details are hosted at http://thehub/communications/NewsPages/E-Consent.aspx (only accessible within the Trust network).