Contract awarded for electronic health records guidance
Mynors Suppiah to provide patients and public with information on using and sharing medical records
The Government has awarded a tender to Mynors Suppiah for the development of easy-to-follow guidance for patients and the public on the subject of electronic health and social care records.
Announcing the successful bidder this week, BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT; and the Department of Health (DH) said the project would support the increasing number of patients accessing their records online and those making use of the growing number of electronic services to store and share personal health and care data.
Through this project patients and the public will gain an understanding through clear and simple guidance on how to use and share their care records effectively and securely
Dr Justin Whatling, vice chairman of strategy and policy for BCS Health, the institute’s medical arm, said: “This is a very important project that has the potential to help patients become equal partners in their own healthcare, something we recommended in our response to the Department of Health’s Liberating the NHS, An Information Revolution strategy.
“Through this project patients and the public will gain an understanding through clear and simple guidance on how to use and share their care records effectively and securely. We are delighted to be working with the Department of Health informatics directorate and to award the contract to Mynors Suppiah.”
Dr Wai Keong Wong, who is co-ordinating the work on behalf of BCS Health, and Mynors Suppiah have now put in place a steering committee made up of experts from across health and social care with patient input. The first step is to recruit stakeholder organisations to provide input on the draft scope of the guidance.
Toto Anne Gronlund, head of patient and public partnerships at the Department of Health informatics directorate, said: “The guidance will provide people with reassurance and confidence in handling their personal health information. This is an important step forward in making a reality of ‘no decision about me without me’ – putting patients and service users in control of their information.
This is an important step forward in making a reality of ‘no decision about me without me’ – putting patients and service users in control of their information
“This work aligns with the wider development of access to personal records and online services, building on the important report on information from the NHS Future Forum and helping to deliver the ambition of the department’s Information Strategy.”
Mynors Suppiah is a consultancy offering research, evaluation, patient information and transformation projects for the UK health sector.
Dr Wong said “Mynors Suppiah has been selected because it demonstrates a deep insight into the complex interplay between the social, technological and psychological dimensions of this emerging field. Members of their team also have a strong track record in producing information for the public consumption and we look forward to working with them”.
