Clinical Communication in Acute Care | Cellma
Table of Contents Help Others Discover – Click to Share! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Table of Contents THE PRESSURE IN NUMBERS: In August 2026, England recorded approximately 2.34 million A&E attendances, with only 75% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, against the 78% target. In August 2026, England recorded approximately 2.34 million A&E attendances, with only 75% of patients admitted, transferred or discharged within four hours, against the 78% target. The same month, an average of 2,973 patients a day experienced corridor care across emergency departments and other hospital areas. Meanwhile, only 64% of hospital appointments were visible through the NHS App in April 2026. These figures highlight the pressure on acute services and the need for connected patient records, accessible digital patient portals and integration with the NHS App to support communication across the care pathway. NHS England The numbers, at a glance: Metric Figure A&E attendances in England (August 2026) ~2.34m Patients seen within 4 hours 75% (target 78%) Patients a day experiencing corridor care (Aug 2026) 2,973 Hospital appointments visible via NHS App (Apr 2026) 64% The NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England sets out three strategic shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. Cellma aligns with this direction by supporting connected clinical information, digital patient access and interoperability across healthcare services. As the NHS moves towards a Single Patient Record accessible through the NHS App from 2028, healthcare providers need technology that can exchange information securely and support continuity across organisational boundaries. NHS 10 Year Health Plan Why Clinical Communication Matters in Acute Care A patient’s journey rarely stays within one department. Someone arriving at A&E may need assessment, diagnostic investigations, specialist input, admission, transfer to a ward and, eventually, discharge with follow-up in the community. At every stage, the next team may depend on information recorded by someone else. That could include presenting symptoms, allergies, medication, observations, investigation results, clinical decisions, referral details or discharge instructions. When information sits in separate systems, staff may need to search across applications, make repeated phone calls or ask patients to explain their history again. Important details can be difficult to locate, and handovers may take longer than expected. Clinical communication in acute care is therefore about more than sending a message. Information must reach the right people, remain accessible when needed and support the next clinical or operational action. For busy NHS teams, this means connecting the systems behind: A&E and emergency departments (ED) Inpatient services and ward management Specialist teams and referrals Admissions, transfers and bed management Discharge planning and community care Clinical documentation and operational reporting The aim is to give authorised staff the information they need without adding unnecessary steps to already pressured workflows. Cellma: A Connected Platform for Acute Care Cellma is an AI-powered EHR/HIMS platform designed to bring patient information and healthcare processes together within the wider Cellma Ecosystem. Rather than treating registration, clinical documentation, referrals, bed management and discharge as isolated activities, Cellma connects related information and workflows across the patient journey. For acute care providers, this supports a more connected digital environment in which teams can access relevant patient information, manage pathway activity and maintain visibility of the steps that follow an admission or clinical decision. Cellma can support the wider requirements of clinical communication in acute care through capabilities including: Capability What It Does Connected patient records Keep relevant clinical information linked to the patient record Admissions and bed management Support visibility of patient movement, transfers and bed-related processes Referral management Help teams track referral activity and the next stage of the pathway Discharge workflows Connect discharge activity with relevant patient information and onward-care processes Reporting and analytics Bring clinical and operational information together to support service-level visibility Patient portals Provide digital access to appropriate health information and services, subject to configuration and integration requirements These capabilities help address the practical challenge facing acute services: keeping information connected while patients move between departments, teams and care settings. Interoperability: Connecting Systems Across the NHS A connected platform must also work within the wider NHS digital environment. Hospitals use different clinical, administrative and national systems, and replacing every application is rarely a realistic option. Interoperability allows information to be exchanged between systems while maintaining appropriate controls over access, meaning and security. Relevant NHS integration capabilities and standards include: Standard / Integration What It Supports HL7 and FHIR Support structured exchange of healthcare information FHIR UK Core and Care Connect Provide UK healthcare data models and implementation guidance where applicable REST and Open APIs Enable systems to exchange information through defined interfaces NHS Spine services Support relevant national services and patient-information exchanges, subject to interface and access requirements PDS and SCR Support appropriate patient-demographic and summary-care information exchanges GP Connect and MESH Enable relevant information-sharing and messaging workflows EPS and e-RS Support electronic prescription and referral pathways where applicable CIS2 and role-based access Support identity, authentication and controlled access within the relevant NHS environment IMPORTANT NOTE: The appropriate interfaces depend on the service, deployment, technical scope and NHS approval requirements. Not every interface is required or enabled in every implementation. For clinical communication in acute care, interoperability is important because a referral, discharge summary or clinical update may need to move beyond the originating department. Connected systems can reduce reliance on manual re-entry and help authorised teams access relevant information through established workflows. Security, Governance and NHS Requirements Interoperability must be supported by strong information governance. Clinical information is sensitive, and sharing it across services requires clear access controls, accountability and appropriate technical safeguards. Cellma’s security and compliance framework includes relevant controls and standards such as: Standard / Control Purpose ISO 27001 Information security management Cyber Essentials Plus Independently assessed cyber-security controls NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) NHS data security requirements UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 Personal-data protection Role-based access controls, multi-factor authentication and audit trails Support controlled access and accountability DCB0129 and DCB0160 Clinical-risk management