Shared electronic health care records system due for launch

The NHS system One Health and Care is due to be launched in the spring to combine all the separate records held by different local providers of health and social care such as hospitals and GPs.

Files will be kept in a single secure and easy to read format to give authorised professionals who are directly responsible for patients' care, a more complete view of the care and treatment they previously had across all health and care services.

For example, a doctor in a hospital or a paramedic responding to a 999 call will be able to see the same information as the person’s GP, such as, details of allergies and current medications so they can make faster, safer decisions about their treatment.

Chief Medical Officer for Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Dr Jonathan Odum, said: “We know how frustrating it can be to be asked the same questions every time you see a new health or care professional. It’s also not efficient for clinicians to have to chase up patient notes from other organisations when they need them, as this can cause delays to people’s care or even see them having to go for repeat tests.

“One Health and Care will change all of this by bringing together the most up to date information held by different services. This means professionals will be able to make fully informed decisions that will allow the best possible service to be given to patients and service users.

“As a hospital doctor myself, the benefits of this are very clear – especially for colleagues working in emergency situations, when having all the information to hand could make a real difference when it comes to making the right decisions for someone who may be too unwell to answer important questions.”

One Health and Care will also flag up any additional needs a person has, such as difficulty with communication and provide details of any other professionals involved in a person’s care.

There will be a clear record of who has accessed information.

Black Country and West Birmingham Integrated Care System digital lead Mike Hastings said: “The NHS and our public sector partners take the safety of people’s data very seriously and we are bound by strict laws and codes of conduct.

"Information in One Health and Care will be treated exactly like the information held in any hospital or GP system, meaning it will never be made public, used for advertising, or sold.

“This exciting project is all about providing safe, efficient, joined-up care."

The new system is already up and running in Shropshire and Staffordshire, and there are plans to extend it to other regions.