28.06.18
Two new areas chosen to become local health and care record exemplars
Two new areas – Yorkshire and the Humber, covering West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, North Yorkshire and Humberside; and Thames Valley and Surrey, covering Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey – have been chosen to become ‘Local Health and Care Record Exemplars’ (LHCRE).
Doctors and nurses in the areas will be able to reduce unnecessary patient tests and improve safety through better working between hospitals, GPs and social care.
Each LHCRE is made up of one or more STPs and will work on a larger scale than existing local projects, providing staff with the information they need for people’s individual care.
As it is, many local GPs and other care professionals are not often unable to access crucial information quickly as it is held by another body or service. The new partnerships will give health and care staff better and faster access to patient information so they can determine the right action as quickly as possible, from urgent tests or a referral to a specialist.
The new partnerships will also help develop a better understanding of demand, and planning for future demand, for local services.
Sites at Greater Manchester, Wessex and One London are already underway, and mean that, with the two new areas, over 40% of the population of England will be covered by a shared local health and care record.
Matthew Swindells, national director of operations and information at NHS England, said: “In the NHS’s 70th year, the local health and care record programme will take the NHS to a world leading position in using information technology to join up services, reduce errors, speed the adoption of new innovations, and give patients control over their own care. The Exemplars will be our trail blazers for that transformation.”
Dr Simon Eccles, chief clinical information officer for health and care, said: “These new local systems will ensure appropriate staff can access information from patient histories to previous test results and care plans that will not only improve the individual care we are able to offer but, in some instances, could save lives.”
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