University Hospitals Plymouth NHS 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.
Logging in and finding a patient record
Concentric can be accessed from anywhere, on any web-enabled device that meets our browser support policy. Go to app.concentric.health and login using NHSmail (click 'Log in with NHSmail').
To get comfortable with using Concentric, many users initially interact with a test patient record; search for patient 'F938577', for an adult test patient or 'F038190' for a child test patient (consent form 2 process can be followed).
To find a patient record search using their hospital or NHS number. On selecting a patient, ensure that it is the correct patient so that no consent information is assigned to the incorrect patient.
You can also access Concentric via the ‘Consent Forms’ icon in the toolbar in SeeEHR.
Checking consent on day of treatment
On the day of treatment completed consent episode details are viewed on screen in Concentric and do not need to be printed out.
Consent PDFs are also available within the patient record in SeeEHR. This can be accessed in the Patient Letters tab within the menu on the Left hand side of the screen:
Support, updates, and contact details
If you are having any issues with using Concentric please contact as per the guidance in this section. You can also explore our knowledge bank for answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs). There are additional guides available for:
- Custom templates - How to create, manage and use custom templates
- Additional consents - What they are, when they are used, and the workflow
- Setting up and using a signature pad
- Admin application guide - For admin users who can manage user accounts and view usage dashboards
Concentric is shaped by what our users tell us, and we are always looking to improve based on this feedback. We regularly release updates to Concentric with new and improved product features, and updated clinical content. Explore our product release notes and content release notes to see recent updates.
Support contact details:
Email plh-tr.mortalityandclinicalharmteamuhp@nhs.net or contact the IT Service Desk via the ServiceNow Portal.