ARDEN'S HEALTH INFORMATICS LIMITED

Ardens Clinical

Ardens Clinical is the leading Clinical Decision Support tool for Primary Care. It provides easy access to evidence-based resources based upon current guidance. This includes clinical templates, alerts, reports, formularies, protocols and referral forms. Ardens Clinical delivers standardised best practice, whilst protecting patient safety and maximising savings.

Features

• Clinical decision support
• Safety alerts
• Referral capacity and demand
• Reports for commissioning, clinical reporting
• Safeguarding and risk stratification
• Practice management tools
• High-risk drug monitoring
• Regularly updated clinical templates
• Links to drug formularies for efficient prescribing
• Support for remote consultations

Benefits

• Easily access clinically rigorous templates from within clinical systems
• Standardise care across teams and practices
• Promote patient safety
• Improve best practice and reduce significant events
• Simplify referral processes and safety netting
• Reduce administrative costs
• Upskill your workforce and increase productivity
• Promote self-care
• Increase GP QOF and enhanced services income
• Save money through consistent prescribing

£0.25 to £0.43 a unit a year

• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at accounts@ardens.org.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

368191397229658

Contact

Dr Nazmul Kamal
01725 762062
accounts@ardens.org.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes
• What software services is the service an extension to: Ardens Clinical adds high quality, rigorous clinical decision support tools and resources to SystmOne and EMIS-Web.
• Cloud deployment model: Private cloud
• Service constraints: Ardens Clinical can only be used in conjunction with the SystmOne or EMIS-Web electronic patient record systems.
• System requirements:
  • Must have access to SystmOne or EMIS-Web
  • Must have a HSCN connection

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: A summary of response times can be found at https://www.ardens.org.uk/key-performance-indicators/. ; ; The team responds to all support requests within 3 working days of receipt. Serious incidents will be acknowledged within 4 hours of occurrence and resolved within 2 working days (excluding issues outside of Ardens control). Urgent Change Requests including updates & issues will be completed within 5 working days and non-urgent change requests within 20 working days. ; ; The Ardens Support Desk is operational Monday to Friday. It is closed at the weekend.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: All customers have access to the same support levels. The Support Desk is available from 08:30-17:00 Monday – Friday and they are responsible for answering customer queries and ensuring that Ardens Clinical has been fully installed and optimised successfully on customer’s systems. Further support can be provided depending on customer need such as contract reporting requirements. ; ; All customers have access to: ; • Webinars ; • Users guides ; • Online forums and Facebook group chats discussing Ardens ; • Email support ; • Telephone support for urgent issues ; • The Support Desk
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: As part of the Ardens initial setup package, Ardens provide free training to support deployment and adoption. These will be tailored to the customer’s specific systems, most used templates and customer type (e.g. individual GP practice, GP Federation, PCN, ICB or any other Group) to ensure the customer’s full understanding, confidence and ease of use. Training can also be delivered for more specific topics such as Medicines Management. Additionally, all users are provided with an online set-up guide and email instructions. Documentation will be tailored to customer type and customer location to meet each customer’s specific needs. ; ; Users can visit the support page on the Ardens website to access resources for further assistance such as: ; ; • Frequently asked questions ; • A contact form and the Support Desk for specific queries ; • News and updates ; • Webinars ; • Guides ; • Training videos ; • Online forums and Facebook group chats
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Ardens are committed to clients having access to their data even if they decide to end their contract. All health data is stored within the Electronic Patient Record System provided by either EMIS Web or SystmOne. Therefore, no data extraction is required post-contract.
• End-of-contract process: At the end of the contract, customers are invited to renew their Ardens Clinical subscription. If the contract is ended without renewal, the customer and all 3rd party users – such as GP practices if the customer is an ICB or other Group - will lose access to all Ardens Clinical Templates and associated functionality. As part of the offboarding process, customers are supported to provide a smooth transition. Users can buy another licence for Ardens Clinical at any time. ; ; All patient data is stored within the Electronic Patient Record (EMIS Web or SystmOne) and is not deleted as part of the end-of-contract process – all data entered via Clinical Templates is retained ; ; None of the end-of-contract processes attract an additional cost.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: No
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: None or don’t know
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Customers can request customisation. Ardens can customise various components including localised enhanced services, referral forms and formularies. For further information, please see www.ardens.org.uk/packages.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: From an operational standpoint, the service is locally hosted by clients within their instance of EMIS Web or SystmOne. Therefore, each individual instance doesn’t draw on resources used by other clients. ; ; See attached Terms and Conditions document for more details.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: A range of service metrics for users can be provided on request, including reporting on uptime and usage.
• Reporting types:
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: None

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: Never
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Not applicable
• Data sanitisation process: No
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: The Ardens Clinical templates are created and stored on the central EMIS Web and SystmOne servers. These are then shared with practices via the EMIS Web Resource Publisher functionality and the equivalent SystmOne Organisation Group functionality. Ardens Clinical does not have access to and cannot export any of the data from the completed templates, as this resides within the Electronic Patient Record.
• Data export formats: Other
• Other data export formats: Not applicable
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: Not applicable

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: Private network or public sector network
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: All Ardens Clinical functions are locally hosted on clients’ SystmOne or EMIS installation, therefore uptime is 100% of those systems’ uptime.
• Approach to resilience: Ardens cloud services are securely hosted on a UK based server, with an SLA in place to guarantee resilience within the server environment. ; ; Ardens resilience protocol and safeguards are available on request.
• Outage reporting: Ardens templates will continue to work on clinical systems even if there is any outage to web services.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: As an ISO27001 certified company, access controls are governed by documented policies and procedures. In addition, Ardens are compliant with the NHS’s Data Security and Protection Toolkit. ; ; All management interfaces are role limited, and regularly reviewed.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: The British Assessment Bureau
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 02/02/2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All in scope, no exemptions.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications: NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Ardens meet the requirements of the NHS Digital Data Security and Protection Toolkit and are fully accredited with ISO27001 and Cyber Essentials Plus. A range of policies and procedures support the security of the system. These are available to clients on request. ; ; All staff are trained on security as part of their induction, and receive regular training updates to ensure continued compliance. Ardens use role based access to strictly limit access to sensitive parts of the system. The team carry out appropriate pre-employment checks, including DBS. ; ; Ardens' reporting structure is in line with the security policy. The SIRO is a member of the Board, and has responsibility for identifying and mitigating risks. Overall, the Chief Executive has overall responsibility for security, supported by individual product leads.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Prior to the delivery of new resources, a Clinical Safety Case Report (CSCR) is established. Once changes are deployed, the validity of any assumptions and the effectiveness of any controls made in the CSCR are monitored to ensure the perceived level of clinical risk remains representative and acceptable. ; ; Should modifications be identified (e.g. defect fixes or new functionality) the CSCR is reviewed to establish if modifications or updates impact on existing hazards or introduce new hazards. Ardens hold a log of all modifications delivered. ; ; This approach is strictly detailed in the Clinical Safety & Risk Management Policy, available on request.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: To maintain the security of the organisation, Ardens use an in-house team and carry out quarterly third-party vulnerability scanning. ; ; The Microsoft 365 platform is used to manage devices and software. Automated threat alerts and a dedicated vulnerability dashboard are used to identify CVE-rated vulnerabilities. These CVE ratings are automatically identified by Microsoft 365. ; ; Microsoft 365 Security also provides Threat Intelligence resources to inform of potential threats to the IT infrastructure. ; ; As part of Cyber Essentials+ certification, the IT & Systems Team deploy urgent patches immediately, and normal cycle patches within 14 working days of them being identified.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: All user devices are provisioned with Microsoft Defender - providing protection from threats that originate from these devices. Ardens receive notification of suspicious activity. In addition, Ardens use products within the Microsoft 365 suite to identify security breaches. ; ; Microsoft 365 also provides security related information relating to potential nefarious activity. Potential indicators of threat such files being sent outside of the organisation are carefully monitored. ; ; Ardens use a 3rd party Security Operations Centre that receives notifications from various deployed 'sensors' within the business. They report any comprising activity and support the business to neutralise threats.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Ardens are an ISO27001-certified company and are compliant with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit. The team follow all appropriate incident management processes. Ardens have dedicated channels for incident reporting and pre-defined processes to be followed by members of staff. ; ; Serious incidents such as practices not being able to access Ardens – acknowledged within 4 hours of the occurrence and resolved within 2 working days ; Urgent updates and issues such as incorrect details on the referral form – delivered within 5 working days of request. Complaints are received via the support desk and regular update reporting provided to the customer.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: Yes
• Connected networks: Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Ardens understands that fighting climate change is not optional: it is an essential commitment for any organisation. We understand that the climate emergency is now considered ‘code red’, reinforcing the importance of promoting climate-conscious practices throughout our business. ; ; We are aligned with the NHS ambition to become the world's first net zero carbon healthcare system by 2045, and have committed to key infrastructure investments to support this goal, including: ; ; - A cycle to work scheme, which is open to all employees, to encourage greener commutes. ; - Bike parking stands at our offices, to further encourage cycling to work. ; - More electric vehicle charging points in our car parks to encourage use of electric cars, reinforced by an EV scheme. ; ; We are committed to ensuring our supply chain is aligned with our social value goals. This includes looking at our biggest carbon footprint areas and consideration of how we can reduce or eliminate our carbon outputs. ; ; We considered the impact of our server environment, one of our largest areas of carbon use, and with this in mind, selected Amazon Web Services (AWS). Their Climate Pledge commits to using 100% renewable energy sources by 2025, and to be net zero carbon by 2040. ; ; We buy locally where possible, a recent example being the selection of a local building company to work on an extension to our offices, this reduces the carbon footprint whilst also supporting the local economy. ; ; Ardens will continue to implement the following measures to contribute to fighting climate change: ; ; - Encouraging remote working (where suitable) to decrease pollution through travel. ; - Where possible, encouraging staff to car share. ; - An entirely paperless operation. ; - Reviewing suppliers’ environmental policies to ensure we are aligned.

  Covid-19 recovery

  As an organisation led by GPs, we understand the far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on the population and primary care specifically. ; ; We provide a free COVID-19 dashboard to all GP practices in England to aid recovery, part of our company values to empower healthcare providers. This tool brings additional value by empowering clinicians with the knowledge that their templates are in line with the latest government guidance and symptoms of the virus, bringing focus back to the patient and enhancing the quality of care. This includes: ; ; - COVID-19 Vaccination Resources dashboard – enabling GP practices, PCNs and ICSs to monitor vaccination activity effectively, generating reports to maximise efficiencies. ; - Updated templates reflecting latest guidance – for risk assessment, remote and face-to-face consultations, social assessment, and future care planning, keeping the patient at the centre of care. ; - Bespoke clinical templates for SystmOne and EMIS Web for paediatric remote consultations – offering guidance for assessing children aged 0-18 remotely. ; - Isolation notes for patients to give their employers – ensuring the correct information is provided, with a robust template for ease of use. ; - Med3 Fit Notes sent electronically via email for efficient communication. ; ; Additionally, we recognise the impact of COVID-19 on waiting lists and the subsequent influx of administrative demands on primary care, which can be challenging to manage. Through our solutions, including Ardens Manager and Ardens Risk Stratification and Primary Prevention, we reduce these pressures through intuitive use of data analytics, releasing time to focus on providing excellent care. ; ; Ardens’ commitment to providing additional social value towards COVID-19 recovery was recognised through multiple awards throughout the pandemic, including EMIS Health Partner of the Year 2021 for COVID Customer Champion.

  Tackling economic inequality

  Ardens believes in the importance of tackling economic inequality as part of our approach to social value, bringing benefits to individuals and the wider community. ; ; Our tools support Primary Care in identifying and tackling the determinants of poor health, including economic inequalities. Through the accurate recording of data in patient record systems, and then the analysis of aggregate data from these systems, areas of inequality can be identified and actioned. As an example, childhood vaccination rates can be analysed by postcode, allowing the targeting of certain areas with low uptake. ; ; At a national level, we support NHS England tackle economic inequality through its embedded social deprivation index. ; ; We are proud to pay all employees above the Living Wage, and keep pay under constant assessment to ensure it remains competitive. ; ; All our staff have access to training opportunities and are supported to attain additional qualifications. Personal and professional development is an integral part of our Annual Appraisals structure, and we have had notable successes: ; ; - With us for a two-week work experience placement, a staff member took an interest in HR, going on to complete a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) course and continue working with us on a permanent basis. She has stayed with us, progressing regularly and has now been promoted to a Director position. ; - We supported a colleague in gaining a Data Protection Officer (DPO) qualification, enabling them to professionally advance into our DPO position. ; - Ardens supported a colleague in dropping to a part-time role to pursue a Masters degree, for professional and personal growth, working with them to ensure they were supported. ; - We helped one of our SystmOne Trainers to explore their interest in Child Psychology, supporting them through an Open University course and subsequent PhD qualification.

  Equal opportunity

  Ardens recognises that diversity is an integral part of workforce dynamics and proactively strives to increase equal opportunity through our values and business practices, supporting people to succeed. We have a diverse senior management team who work to ensure that all team members - regardless of background – have a positive, enjoyable experience of work. ; ; We ensure equal opportunity by operating a standardised recruitment process throughout advertising, shortlisting, and interviewing, guided by our robust Equal Opportunities Policy. ; ; We develop our team, helping people to learn new skills and gain professional qualifications. This development is rooted in equality, with oversight from senior management to ensure opportunities are available for all. We are proud to have staff who are representative of the local areas where we work and recruit, and to have a highly skilled, diverse senior management team and Board. ; ; We accept work experience candidates from schools local to our offices, offering a variety of workplace experiences to those in full-time education. This gives young people from all backgrounds real-world experience of a technology company, encouraging them to join the sector. ; ; In addition, we also accept candidates seeking experience to complement their university education. We offer valuable experience to those studying IT and technology-based courses, as well as healthcare.

  Wellbeing

  Wellbeing is key to staff and patients, contributing to a healthy work life balance and supporting good mental health. We reflect this social value through our work to ensure the wellbeing of patients, as well as of our own team. ; ; Patient wellbeing is always considered during the development of our products. We proactively seek feedback from patients, clinicians and frontline managers to improve our products. For example, we consulted with members of the LGBTQIA+ community to ensure that our templates are inclusive prior to launch, including discussions around pronouns and titles. We review all feedback we receive as part of our continuous cycle of development and implement changes to positively impact patient wellbeing. ; ; Ardens champions staff wellbeing, understanding that a healthy and happy workforce positively impacts our services and the wider community. We ensure a and supportive structure around each staff member, with Team Leaders as a regular point of contact to provide wellbeing support. Each member of the team also is assigned a mentor, with whom they have weekly meetings. ; ; We conduct regular staff surveys, where 94% of our staff feel well-supported by their manager and 91% feel that we provide a positive and welcoming work environment. ; ; Our employees have the benefit of access to talking therapies and counselling, available through the Simplyhealth platform, proactively ensuring a healthy workforce. ; ; Staff wellbeing is part of our culture and, consequently, we have a high staff retention rate, 91.27% for 2023, with high morale throughout the organisation. Activities such as weekly breakfasts, regular walks, and team games promote both team and individual wellbeing, alongside granting staff a day of leave for their birthday. We have also implemented a scheme for buying and selling leave, which is regularly used by our staff and encourages ownership of wellbeing and individual needs.

Pricing

• Price: £0.25 to £0.43 a unit a year
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: Ardens Clinical offers a free trial lasting 3 months.; Included: full access to software package, free in practice training session, technical support. Not included: localised referral forms and formularies.
• Link to free trial: https://www.ardens.org.uk/trial/

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at accounts@ardens.org.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.