ADAPT+: Delivering Safer, Faster, More Effective Mental Health Care
Using SystmOne for Service-Led Transformation at Surrey and Borders Partnership
Overview
ADAPT+ is Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s programme to unlock the full potential of SystmOne – delivering the highest levels of usability, data quality and safety, while giving clinicians more time for direct care.
The Trust has a clear ambition for innovation. As part of their continuous digital transformation, they introduced ADAPT+, to further optimise SystmOne to deliver the best possible outcomes and experience for people using their services.
By fully leveraging the flexibility of the SystmOne Clinical Development Kit (CDK), the Trust redesigned its digital platform to support greater efficiency, safer care and measurable improvements for both clinicians and patients.
The SystmOne Clinical Development Kit (CDK) enables digital health organisations to create and deploy configurable clinical templates, protocols, pathways, analytics, and visualisations directly within the SystmOne electronic health record. It provides a safe, governed environment for designing data-driven clinical workflows that support innovation while maintaining clinical safety and consistency at scale.
Designed by Clinicians. Built Around Care.
From the outset, ADAPT+ was clinically led. Clinicians and service users were placed at the centre of system design. The power of the CDK gave the Trust a level of configurability and local control unique to the SystmOne platform.
The design process was supported by a Clinical Design Authority, bringing together clinical and operational leaders from across the Trust. The patient voice was also a key component of the transformation – with Service User Reference Groups and Digital Citizen Ambassadors bringing their real-life insights about what matters the most.
By fully leveraging the power of the SystmOne CDK, the Trust were able to delivered a step-change in capability:
- Optimised, clinician-focused digital tools and workflows across the organisation.
- Enhanced configurations – giving each team complete control over their specialised workflows.
- Moving from a one-size fits all configuration to 16 distinct setups.
- Standardised templates for core assessments, including risk, safeguarding and physical health.
- Safer, more structured clinical documentation.
- Electronic transfer of prescriptions to community pharmacies.
- Improved appointment diaries and referral handling.
- Streamlined, service-specific navigation.
Adoption was supported through structured change management, including local ADAPT+ Influencers, clinical safety assessments, testing and hands-on go-live support.
What the Data Shows
The data tells a clear story – with staff reporting that the ADAPT+ service-led design translated directly into better safety, efficiency, and confidence.
Staff surveys have shown an improvement across 100% of measured domains – from efficiency to safety, care quality to outcomes.
Crucially, these improvements were not confined to a single professional group. The measurable benefits were reported across medical staff, nursing teams, psychologists, allied health professionals, administrative colleagues and support staff – demonstrating impact at every level of the organisation.
As Ian Mackenzie, Chief Information Officer, notes:
“When you see improvement across every single domain, across every team, it shows how powerful the platform becomes when its fully aligned to care.”
The most significant gains were seen where it matters most:
- A 30% improvement in efficiency-related measures, driven by reduced duplication and faster access to information.
- A 40% improvement in safety-related confidence, including alerts, error prevention and patient safety.
- A 30% uplift in overall usability and system confidence, moving staff sentiment to consistently positive.
Additionally, ADAPT+ has seen a 400% increase in electronic prescribing to community pharmacies, reducing administration while improving safety and convenience for people using the Trust’s services.
Impact on Care and Experience
The direct feedback from staff has been extremely positive. The re-design has helped support clinical decision making, reduce duplication and made critical information easier to find.
“The feedback we hear most often from staff is that the system gives them more time to focus on their patients,” says Mackenzie.
Feedback from clinicians across the Trust reinforces this. “Information is all in one place, it’s easy to find, it’s simple to update risk and care plans at the same time, triage is quicker, discharge is faster. These are just some of the comments from staff – it’s been great to hear,” he added.
The benefits are equally tangible for people using the Trusts’ services. Improved, structured documentation means people no longer need to repeat information. They tell their story once. Improved visibility of assessments and care plans is letting their care teams provide more joined-up care.
The introduction of electronic prescribing means people can get access to their medication more quickly, more easily, and closer to home.
Built to Evolve
Crucially, the programme has created a foundation for continued innovation. “ADAPT+ has shown how our digital solutions and EPR can evolve alongside our changing services,” says Mackenzie. “We’re already building on this work- with full electronic prescribing, medicines administration, wider electronic referrals and diagnostic requesting – all within SystmOne, designed for our teams.”
Ashley Brook, Director at TPP, highlights the wider significance of the work:
“Surrey and Borders Partnership demonstrates what’s possible when a Trust fully embraces the power of the SystmOne CDK. This is SystmOne doing exactly what it was built to do – supporting innovative, complex, evolving care at scale, bringing benefits to all staff and patients.”