The encompass clock is ticking for Southern Trust!

The Southern, along with Western colleagues, will be the final two HSCTs in NI to introduce the ground-breaking system on Thursday, May 8, 2025.

Every person who receives health and social care in Northern Ireland will have access to specific parts of their own medical records through the My Care digital patient portal.

encompass will replace most current systems and paper records used across services, making it much easier for staff to view and share important information, within and between Trusts, helping to improve safety and quality of care.

Work has been gathering at pace in preparation for this major digital transformation, with countdown clocks now installed at Craigavon Area, Daisy Hill, South Tyrone hospitals and Banbridge Health and Care Centre to help staff to plan for go-live.

Southern Trust Acting Chief Executive, Colm McCafferty said: “There has been such a huge effort with staff right across our organisation working meticulously to ensure that we are in a state of readiness for May 8. From installing the IT infrastructure and equipment, to preparing records for data migration and ensuring that we are all trained, there is a real momentum building.

“Staff are absolutely dedicated to working through the final preparations over the next few weeks and are motivated by an end goal in sight. We look forward to realising the benefits of a paper light health and social care system with real-time access to information which ultimately helps to improve service user experience and outcomes.”