NHS Lothian uses the TrakCare clinical system across its care services. Within TrakCare, there is an abundance of critical data that cover all patient interactions with NHS Lothian hospitals, such as: referrals, attendance details, test requests and results, details of treatments, and patient-discharge information. This electronic system has substantially reduced inefficiencies (by avoiding repeated data entries) and enabled more comprehensive care.
In addition, data recorded within TrakCare offers significant opportunities for novel research. At DataLoch, we have already prepared research-ready extracts of much of the data within TrakCare. However, there are many datasets that have not yet been made research ready, but may offer valuable insights for researchers who are prepared to work with these data.
The scope of the opportunity
Through our Metadata Catalogue, researchers can already apply to access Lothian data related to emergency attendances, hospital admissions and discharges, patient movements and transfers through hospitals and facilities, and laboratory tests. To understand the scale of these data, every year in NHS Lothian secondary care, there are around 140,000 inpatient admissions; over 550,000 outpatient attendances; 170,000 visits to the Emergency Department; 105,000 day cases; nearly 500,000 radiology scans and examinations; plus 8 million laboratory tests.
There are further data recorded within the TrakCare system that are not yet within our Metadata Catalogue. These include (and are not restricted to):
- Inpatient electronic observations – such as blood pressure readings and heart rate recordings – that can inform understandings of the severity of acute illness;
- The 4AT delirium detection tool score, a simple questionnaire that can be completed by clinicians within two minutes to inform the diagnosis of delirium;
- Outpatient appointments covering dates, type (new or return patient), and status (arrived or cancelled) for over 690 specialities in Lothian; and
- Details of Radiology tests requested and completed – including X-rays, CT and MRI scans – that could add important context for understanding patient treatment and outcomes.
The possibilities of TrakCare data for research
TrakCare data offer incredible detail in how the overall health system operates, the precise nature of the care patients receive, and the outcomes of their treatment. While the national Scottish Morbidity Records datasets provide valuable population-wide overviews, they are unable to offer deeper insights. Through TrakCare however, the entire patient journey can be seen: initial attendance to the Emergency Department, transfer to a ward / specialty, laboratory tests and results, transfer to a different specialty, discharge, and referral to outpatients.
Seeking TrakCare data for research
If you are a researcher looking for extracts of TrakCare data that are not yet within our Metadata Catalogue, we would be delighted to hear from you. While these data may not be completely research ready, understanding what researchers are most interested in will help shape our prioritisation for integrating new data within our standard catalogue. With your help, we could improve access to these data for all researchers in the future.
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