Locating Useful Clinical Information (LUCI)

We’re supporting the development of a new digital tool called LUCI—short for Locating Useful Clinical Information—which is providing clinicians with more accurate and timely information.

Better use of data is a potential game changer in mental health care. That’s why it has been made a key pillar of part of the Government’s 10-year plan for the NHS. Behind every conversation about ‘the numbers’ is an opportunity to improve and tailor care for every individual and, more broadly, to see the bigger picture of trends and challenges for whole populations.

We’re supporting the development of a new digital tool called LUCI—short for Locating Useful Clinical Information—which is providing clinicians with more accurate and timely information. LUCI is a pilot initiative of the Clinical Informatics Service (CIS) set up by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust with support from the charity. CIS brings together clinical, technical and research expertise from the Trust, the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre and the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN), King’s College London.

Making use of Natural Language Processing

LUCI uses a type of artificial intelligence method called Natural Language Processing which can understand and interpret the way human beings speak, to pull together key details from patients’ records —such as health history, medications, and housing and employment support needs—and presents them in one clear, easy-to-use screen. This is particularly important in a mental health care system where patients can be seen by multiple professionals in different teams and locations.

Searches which in the past would have taken hours of digging through lengthy notes or paperwork, can now be completed in minutes, allowing a patient’s team of psychiatrists, nurses, pharmacists and occupational therapists to quickly see the information they needs to make good decisions about treatment, allowing them to spend less time on admin and more time with patients.

LUCI is also able to summarise patient data across cases handled by specific teams and services, highlight patterns and show where improvements may be needed. Crucially, it can provide information on key populations, using visuals including graphs, charts and maps. Used in this way, LUCI is more than a data management system, it can be a useful public health tool to help the Trust understand patterns, especially those related to equal levels of treatment, and track whether treatments and outcomes are improving.

A large group of people seated and standing behind a long table
The LUCI service user involvement group

Testing and learning

LUCI replaces and builds on previous charity-funded projects – particularly VIEWER, an award-winning proof-of-concept information retrieval system. LUCI is a more powerful, user-friendly, and reliable tool. Designed with user input, LUCI is easier to use and provides more detailed insights and richer visuals. Where VIEWER relied on manual updates, LUCI automatically and accurately updates patient records, and is capable of better understanding, interpreting and searching the kind of natural language found in free-text notes.

A large group of people standing together, each wears a lanyard of red or purple
The LUCI clinical team

How LUCI is already making a difference to care

“I use LUCI to monitor the six core physical health checks for older adults with serious mental illness (SMI). We found it really helpful for care coordinators, and I think it could make work processes more efficient. Older adult patients with SMI may struggle to access support and present with greater physical health needs by the time they access mental health services. I hope staff can use LUCI to prevent physical health deterioration and provide timely intervention.”

Carla Vidale, Community Matron

Portrait of a woman, Carla

“I work at Bethlem Royal Hospital and I use LUCI on a daily basis. During ward rounds, I use LUCI to provide a snapshot of the patient’s medication history and service use. It provides a complete list of medications that I can go through systematically. Some of our patients have been with the Trust for many years and, without a tool like LUCI, I would sometimes need to anually review 20 years of medication notes. The way we did this before could take days to complete but now can be done within a few hours.”

Maariya Din, Clinical Pharmacist

Portrait of a young woman, Maariya

"I use LUCI almost every morning for zoning meetings. Now we have LUCI, meetings run more smoothly with fewer people searching the patient record at the same time. I was involved in the user-centred design process, and the LUCI team did a great job incorporating my feedback. I’m really pleased with how it turned out and I think it’s a great addition to the current system.”

Benjamin Quinn, Advanced Practitioner

Portrait of Benjamin