Guidance at the bedside, not in a PDF.

What it does and who it's for

Point-of-Care Access integrates live, validated clinical guidance directly into the clinician's workflow at the moment of decision-making. It surfaces concise, actionable recommendations tailored to the user's role and context, eliminating the need to search through external databases or static documents. This functionality is designed for all frontline clinical staff, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals, who require immediate access to trusted guidance during patient consultations, prescribing, or procedural tasks.

The system is particularly valuable in high-pressure environments such as A&E departments, inpatient wards, and primary care clinics where time is critical. By embedding guidance within existing clinical systems, it supports safer prescribing decisions, improves adherence to local formularies, and ensures consistent application of care pathways across multidisciplinary teams. For clinical educators and trainees, it serves as an immediate reference tool that reinforces evidence-based practice without disrupting the flow of patient care.

How it works

The system operates through a structured process of input, processing, and output to deliver relevant information.

Inputs

CliniSearch ingests national guidelines from sources like NICE, SIGN, and Royal Colleges, alongside an organisation's local policies and formularies. This creates a unified, searchable knowledge base that reflects both standard and institution-specific protocols. The platform supports multiple document formats including PDFs, Word documents, and structured data feeds, with automated parsing to extract key recommendations and eligibility criteria. Local clinical safety officers can review and approve imported content before it becomes active within the system.

Processing

All guidance is indexed for fast retrieval and undergoes strict version control. The platform automatically flags updates and can highlight differences between versions, ensuring clinicians always see the most current information. Role-based filtering tailors the content displayed to the user's professional responsibilities. Advanced natural language processing techniques are employed to structure unstructured guidance documents, identifying key recommendations, contraindications, and dosing information while maintaining the original clinical intent and nuance.

Outputs

At the point of care, the system delivers succinct answers, critical alerts (e.g., drug interactions), and direct links to full guidance. It also generates audit artefacts, creating a record of which guidance was accessed, when, and by whom, supporting clinical governance. Outputs are designed for rapid comprehension with clear hierarchies of information - presenting the most critical recommendations first while allowing drilling down to supporting evidence or exceptional cases. The system can generate patient-specific guidance summaries that can be attached to clinical notes for future reference.

Example workflow

The following illustrates a typical user journey for a junior doctor managing a patient with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT).

Before CliniSearch

1. Doctor suspects DVT based on patient presentation (unilateral leg swelling, pain).
2. Leaves the patient to open a web browser on a workstation.
3. Searches for "NICE DVT guideline" or checks a local intranet page.
4. Scrolls through a lengthy PDF or webpage to find relevant assessment criteria (Wells score) and management steps.
5. Returns to the patient to apply the findings, potentially after a significant delay.
6. May reference an outdated printed guideline or rely on memory if search proves difficult.
7. Potential for missing recent updates to anticoagulation protocols or local imaging pathways.

After CliniSearch Integration

1. Within the Electronic Patient Record (EPR) or mobile app, the doctor selects "Guidance" from a context menu.
2. The system, recognising the clinical context (e.g., from problem list or notes), suggests "DVT diagnosis and management."
3. A concise card appears with the Wells Score criteria, local imaging referral pathway, and first-line anticoagulation options based on trust formulary.
4. The doctor applies the score, initiates the referral, and prescribes medication without leaving the workflow.
5. The access event is logged for audit purposes.
6. System highlights any recent changes to the guideline since last accessed.
7. Option to quickly check contraindications for prescribed anticoagulant based on patient's co-morbidities and medications.

This workflow typically reduces guidance access time from 5-10 minutes to under 30 seconds, allowing clinicians to maintain focus on patient interaction while ensuring evidence-based decision making.

Governance & safety

Patient safety and information integrity are paramount. The platform is built with robust governance controls.

Provenance

Every piece of guidance is clearly sourced, displaying the originating body (e.g., NICE CKS), publication date, and a direct link to the authoritative source document. The system maintains a complete audit trail of content ingestion, including who approved the content for clinical use and when it was last validated. For local policies, additional metadata includes the approving committee, review date, and clinical safety sign-off status.

Update Handling

Guidelines are monitored for updates. When a new version is published, it is processed and integrated. Clinicians can be notified of significant changes, and the system can maintain a version history for reference. The platform supports staged rollouts of updated guidance, allowing clinical leads to preview changes before full deployment. Automatic alerts flag potentially practice-changing updates that require mandatory staff awareness or training.

Wording Controls

Content is presented using clear, unambiguous language. Wording from national guidelines is preserved to maintain intent, while local adaptations are clearly marked as such to avoid confusion. The system employs clinical terminology standards (SNOMED CT) where appropriate to ensure consistency. All content undergoes clinical review before publication, with special attention to high-risk areas such as medication dosing, contraindications, and safety critical recommendations.

Audit Trail

A comprehensive log is maintained for every guidance access, capturing the user, timestamp, patient context (anonymised for privacy where appropriate), and the specific guidance viewed. This supports clinical audit, reflection, and safety investigations. Audit data can be aggregated to identify patterns in guidance usage, highlight areas where additional training may be required, and demonstrate compliance with clinical governance requirements. The system supports reporting for clinical incident investigations and quality improvement initiatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

Implementation

How is this integrated into our existing systems?
Point-of-Care Access can be integrated via API into Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems, clinical portals, or mobile applications. We work with your IT team to ensure a seamless deployment that aligns with your clinical safety standards. Integration typically uses HL7 FHIR standards where available, with fallback to REST APIs for legacy systems. The implementation process includes thorough testing in non-production environments followed by a phased clinical rollout.

What training is required for staff?
The interface is designed for intuitive use, minimising training needs. Typically, a short familiarisation session or digital guide is sufficient for clinicians to begin using the tool effectively. We provide train-the-trainer materials for clinical champions and integrate guidance access prompts into existing clinical system training. Most users become proficient within their first few patient encounters using the system.

How long does implementation typically take?
Implementation timelines vary based on the complexity of integration and organisational readiness. Simple EPR integrations can be completed within 4-6 weeks, while more complex deployments involving multiple clinical systems may take 8-12 weeks. This includes clinical safety assessment, user acceptance testing, and staff engagement activities.

Data Handling

Is patient data processed by CliniSearch?
No. The integration is designed to be privacy-preserving. While the system may receive contextual cues (e.g., a read-only clinical code) to suggest relevant guidance, it does not store or process identifiable patient data. All access logs are anonymised for governance purposes. The system operates on a "data minimisation" principle, only receiving the minimum information necessary to provide relevant guidance suggestions.

Where is the guideline data stored?
All data is hosted on secure, UK-based servers compliant with NHS Digital's Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT). Our infrastructure meets NHS Cloud Security Principles and maintains ISO 27001 certification. Data encryption is applied both in transit and at rest, with regular penetration testing and security audits conducted by independent third parties.

How is data backup and disaster recovery managed?
We maintain geographically redundant backups with a recovery point objective (RPO) of 15 minutes and recovery time objective (RTO) of 4 hours. Business continuity plans are tested annually and align with NHS Digital standards for critical clinical systems. All backup data is encrypted and subject to the same access controls as primary systems.

Limitations

Does this replace clinical judgement?
Absolutely not. CliniSearch is a decision-support tool designed to provide quick access to evidence. The final clinical decision must always be made by the healthcare professional, considering the individual patient's circumstances and local policy. The system explicitly states when guidance should be adapted based on clinical context and highlights areas where professional discretion is required.

What if there is a conflict between national and local guidance?
The system is configured to prioritise local protocols where they exist, as these are often adaptations of national guidance to local resources and pathways. Any conflicts are clearly highlighted for clinician awareness. Clinical governance teams can configure how conflicts are presented and which sources take precedence in different clinical scenarios.

How does the system handle ambiguous or complex clinical scenarios?
For complex cases involving multiple conditions or unusual presentations, the system provides access to relevant guidance from all applicable pathways while clearly indicating potential conflicts or areas requiring special consideration. It supports clinicians in identifying when specialist input may be required and provides links to local referral pathways and specialist guidelines.

What happens during system outages or connectivity issues?
The system includes a fallback mode that caches frequently accessed guidance locally, ensuring basic functionality during temporary connectivity issues. For planned maintenance, advance notice is provided to clinical teams. Critical safety alerts and high-risk medication guidance receive priority in cached content to maintain patient safety during service interruptions.

Core capabilities