“Local people have told us that they want their health and care records to be available to practitioners who care for them, which means that they only need to share their health and care history once,” said Simon Whitehouse, Director of Together We’re Better. “By connecting the information which is held by different providers of health and care services, we will be able to improve quality and outcomes for those being treated and cared for across both health and care.”
Currently, local health and care services hold separate pieces of information about patients which isn’t easily accessible between different organisations. With appropriate permissions and consent, this information will be available 24/7 to everyone who needs it to treat a patient.
Practitioners will have access to a comprehensive and up-to-date record for their patients’ medical and care needs, making care safer and reducing duplication. It will prevent patients being asked for information repeatedly and ensure that their care preferences are shared and understood by all those caring for them.
Dr Paddy Hannigan, a GP in Stafford for 30 years and Digital Programme Clinical Lead for Together We’re Better said: “This is about patient safety first-and-foremost. In an emergency it is important that the clinician knows as much about you as possible to make the right decisions about how to treat you.
“But we also hear many times of patients who are frustrated because they need to repeatedly give the same information to people from different parts of the NHS and social care, and delays caused by records not being easily accessible.
“We have worked hard to create care that’s better co-ordinated across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent. This shared care record will support new models of care which form part of the delivery of integrated health and social care services that are central to the NHS Long Term Plan.”
The Together We’re Better Digital Programme is working in partnership with local NHS organisations, local authorities and system supplier Graphnet; who have developed the underlying software technology and successfully implemented One Health and Care and electronic integrated care records in other parts of the country.
The One Health and Care electronic integrated care records will be rolled out across the local health and care economy from January 2020.