Have you verified your PDS trace data?

We have recently seen several incidents where incorrect patient details have been imported by PDS trace into Siren records. This has resulted in the wrong patients being booked in at A&E departments, and the actual patient being at risk of harmed due to the error.

When importing any data into your records it is important to ensure you validate it for accuracy to avoid these kinds of errors.

When a PDS search is carried out using the details that have been manually entered into the EPCR, if an exact match for the patients’ details cannot be found, the PDS trace may return a best match i.e.  if one of the search fields is wrong such as a name spelt differently, or different postcode but the rest of the fields are a match then a result will be returned.

Where two patients share similar details, this can result in the wrong patient being returned as a potential match.

Top tips for performing an accurate PDS trace.

• Double check the information that you are manually entering or importing from CAD into Siren with the patient or family i.e. confirm the date of birth and the spelling of the first name/last name.
• Once the PDS trace has been retrieved, check the details with the patient by confirming the address and GP details that have been returned.
• We understand that fatigue is a factor in mistakes being made, so there is nothing wrong with getting a ‘fresh eyes check’ on the data and having a crewmate (where available) double check details being returned by the PDS trace
• The PDS trace details that have been returned do not have to be imported into the record. If you are not sure, or not convinced that the patient is the same person as the PDS trace results do not import the data.

 You can correct any errors in the search fields and run the trace again or manually enter the details you have been given by the patient or family instead if a successful trace cannot be achieved.

Published 31st March 2023