Guidance at the bedside, not in a PDF.

What it does and who it's for

Point-of-Care Access provides immediate, context-aware retrieval of clinical guideline recommendations directly within the clinician's workflow, such as an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system. It surfaces concise, actionable advice tailored to the specific clinical scenario and user role, reducing the need to search through lengthy PDF documents or external websites. This ensures that decision-making is supported by the most current, relevant evidence at the moment of care.

This tool is designed for all frontline healthcare professionals in the NHS and private UK healthcare settings, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals. It is particularly valuable in high-pressure environments like acute wards, A&E departments, and primary care clinics where quick, defensible decisions are critical. The system supports multidisciplinary team working by providing consistent information access across different professional groups, helping to standardise care delivery and reduce unwarranted variation in practice.

Beyond individual clinicians, the platform also serves clinical leads and governance teams by providing visibility into how guidelines are being accessed and applied across the organisation. This supports quality improvement initiatives and helps demonstrate compliance with evidence-based standards during audits and inspections.

How it works

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

Inputs

CliniSearch ingests national clinical guidelines from sources like NICE, SIGN, and Royal Colleges, as well as local trust or health board policies. These documents are processed to extract individual recommendations, which are tagged with metadata including publication date, grade of evidence, and clinical topics. The system maintains relationships with guideline publishers to ensure timely access to updates and new publications.

Additional inputs include user role definitions (to tailor content presentation) and organisational formularies or care pathways where these exist. The platform can also integrate with laboratory information systems to receive relevant clinical context, such as abnormal test results that might trigger specific guidance recommendations.

Processing

An intelligent indexing engine parses the guideline content, creating a searchable knowledge base. Version control is automatically managed; when a guideline is updated, the system flags the change and archives previous versions. Natural language processing helps to standardise the wording of recommendations for clarity and consistency.

The processing engine applies clinical coding systems (such as SNOMED CT and ICD-10) to enhance searchability and contextual matching. Machine learning algorithms help identify relationships between different clinical concepts, enabling the system to surface relevant guidance even when the exact terminology used in the query doesn't match the guideline wording precisely. Quality assurance processes include manual review of critical content to ensure accuracy.

Outputs

Based on a user's query or clinical context (e.g., a patient's diagnosis or test results), the system returns succinct, cited recommendations. It can also generate proactive alerts for relevant guidance and produce audit artefacts that document which recommendations were viewed and when, supporting clinical governance.

Outputs are designed for rapid comprehension, typically presenting the core recommendation first, followed by key qualifying information such as patient population specifics or strength of evidence. Where appropriate, the system provides quick-access buttons for common actions, such as copying recommendation text into clinical notes or accessing the full guideline document. For complex clinical scenarios, the platform can present sequential guidance in a step-by-step format that mirrors clinical decision pathways.

Example workflow

The following steps illustrate a typical user journey for a junior doctor managing a patient with suspected deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in an acute medical unit.

1. Context Trigger: The doctor enters "suspected DVT" into the patient's problem list within the EPR.
2. Guidance Surfacing: CliniSearch automatically displays a card with key recommendations from the NICE guideline [NG158], such as using the Wells score and arranging a D-dimer test.
3. Role-Tailored View: As a doctor, the user sees the full diagnostic pathway, including criteria for imaging.
4. Action and Documentation: The doctor applies the Wells score, orders the D-dimer, and the system provides a snippet of text to copy into the clinical notes, citing the guideline.
5. Audit Trail: The access event, including the recommendation viewed and the timestamp, is logged for governance purposes.

This integrated process replaces the need to leave the EPR, search a website, and manually transcribe information, saving time and reducing error.

In a contrasting example for a nurse managing a patient with type 2 diabetes, the workflow might differ: when documenting a blood glucose reading outside target range, the system could surface relevant guidance on hypoglycaemia management or insulin adjustment protocols specific to nursing responsibilities. The nurse would see actions appropriate to their scope of practice, such as patient education points or when to escalate to a doctor, rather than the full pharmacological management options that would be presented to a physician.

Governance and safety

Clinical safety and governance are foundational to the Point-of-Care Access system.

Provenance

Every recommendation displayed is explicitly linked to its source guideline, including the publishing body, publication date, and a direct link to the full source document. This ensures transparency and allows clinicians to verify the information.

The system maintains a complete version history for each recommendation, allowing users to see when it was first published and any subsequent modifications. For recommendations based on local policies, the specific approving committee and ratification date are displayed alongside the content. This level of provenance tracking helps maintain trust in the information and supports clinical governance requirements.

Update Handling

The system is continuously monitored for updates to the underlying guidelines. When a new version is published, the relevant recommendations are updated across the platform. Users can see the date of the last update for any piece of guidance, and significant changes are highlighted.

A formal change management process governs how updates are implemented, including clinical review of material changes before they go live. For major guideline revisions that significantly alter practice, the system can be configured to display prominent alerts to users for a specified period after implementation. Organisations can also choose to phase in certain updates according to their local implementation timelines.

Wording Controls

Recommendations are presented using clear, unambiguous language that reflects the intent of the original guideline authors. Strength of recommendation (e.g., "offer," "consider") is preserved to guide clinical decision-making appropriately.

The system maintains consistency in how standard clinical terminology is used across different guidelines, reducing confusion that can arise when different publishing bodies use varying terms for the same concepts. Where original guideline wording is particularly complex or contains multiple conditional statements, the platform may provide a simplified summary while maintaining a link to the exact original text for reference. All modifications to original wording undergo clinical review to ensure meaning is preserved.

Audit Trail

A comprehensive log is maintained for each access event, recording the user (anonymised or pseudonymised as per data policy), the recommendation viewed, the timestamp, and the clinical context. This supports clinical audit, reflection, and demonstrates adherence to evidence-based practice.

The audit trail can be accessed by authorised staff for quality improvement purposes, allowing analysis of guideline usage patterns across different clinical areas or professional groups. The system can generate reports showing which guidelines are most frequently accessed, identifying potential areas where additional training or support might be needed. For clinical incidents, the audit trail can help reconstruct what guidance was available to clinicians at the time of decision-making.

Frequently Asked Questions

Implementation

How is Point-of-Care Access integrated into our EPR?
Integration typically occurs via API or a secure embeddable widget provided by CliniSearch. Our technical team works with your IT department to ensure a seamless fit within your existing clinical systems with minimal disruption. We support integration with all major UK EPR systems and can accommodate custom integration requirements where needed.

What training is required for staff?
The interface is designed for intuitive use, requiring minimal formal training. We provide quick-reference guides and optional online tutorials focused on maximising the tool's efficiency within specific workflows. Most users become proficient with basic functionality within their first clinical session, with advanced features being adopted gradually through regular use.

How long does implementation typically take?
Standard implementations are typically completed within 4-8 weeks, depending on the complexity of integration and organisational readiness. This includes technical setup, content configuration, user testing, and go-live support. We work to minimise disruption to clinical services throughout the implementation process.

Data Handling

What patient data does CliniSearch process?
The system is designed to operate with context, not identifiable patient data. It typically receives non-identifiable clinical triggers (e.g., "chest pain") rather than patient-specific identifiers. All data processing complies with UK GDPR and NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit requirements.

Where is the data stored?
All CliniSearch systems and data are hosted on secure, UK-based servers that meet NHS digital standards for information governance. We maintain multiple layers of security including encryption at rest and in transit, regular penetration testing, and comprehensive access controls.

How is data retention managed?
Audit trail data is retained in accordance with organisational policies and regulatory requirements, typically for a minimum of 8 years to support clinical governance needs. Personal data is minimised throughout the system design, and retention periods are clearly defined in our data processing agreements with healthcare organisations.

Limitations

Does this tool replace clinical judgement?
No. Point-of-Care Access is a decision-support tool. The ultimate responsibility for clinical decisions remains with the healthcare professional, who must apply the guidance within the context of the individual patient and their local policy. The system is designed to enhance, not replace, professional expertise.

What if our local policy differs from the national guideline?
The system can be configured to prioritise and display local trust policies where they exist. It can also show both local and national recommendations side-by-side, with clear labelling, to inform the clinician's decision. Any conflicts between local and national guidance are clearly highlighted to ensure transparency.

How comprehensive is the guideline coverage?
CliniSearch aims to cover all active national guidelines from major UK publishing bodies, with local policy coverage dependent on organisational participation. While we strive for comprehensive coverage, there may be rare instances where very recent publications or highly specialised guidelines are not immediately available in the system, though these are typically added within our standard update cycles.

What happens during system downtime?
We maintain high system availability with robust backup systems, but in the rare event of downtime, clinicians should follow existing trust procedures for accessing guidelines, typically through direct access to publisher websites or local intranet resources. System status information is proactively communicated to partner organisations during any planned maintenance or unexpected outages.

Core capabilities