New integrated care record connects care

Health and social care professionals in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have access to a new integrated care record that is supporting better and safer care by providing a fuller, more-up-to-date picture of an individual’s care.

Known locally as One Health and Care, the secure digital system is using Graphnet’s CareCentric technology to consolidate information from the region’s care organisations so residents won’t need to repeat their health and social care history as often and practitioners will be better able to co-ordinate their care and support.

This benefit is especially useful to individuals with a long-term health condition that has complex needs involving lots of professionals from multiple health and social care organisations at any one time.

Dr Paddy Hannigan, senior responsible officer for Together We’re Better’s Digital Programme, said: “Having an integrated care record available for our patients is about safety first and foremost, but it will also help tackle the immense frustration that we know patients sometimes feel at having to repeat themselves to every member of the health and care workforce they encounter.

“Because clinicians have access to up-to-date medications and allergy information direct from the GP system; patient safety is being improved and they can make more-informed decisions by seeing recent visits, requested tests, and prescriptions issued.”

Having an integrated care record available for our patients is about safety first and foremost, but it will also help tackle the immense frustration that we know patients sometimes feel at having to repeat themselves

As well as demographics, allergies, test results and prescriptions, the care record also includes NHS number, GP practice and GP, ongoing and historic conditions, immunisations, diagnoses, hospital referrals, admissions, discharges and clinics attended, and social and mental health information.

Future developments of the care record include a patient health record to allow patients wider access to their information and self management of their own health and care, population health management and wider regional health and care record sharing to ensure a resident’s patient record will accompany them if they receive care and support across boundaries into neighbouring areas.

Local people with long-term health conditions will also benefit from plans to use the software to create single cross-organisation care plans so care professionals across the community can work together on an individual’s care.

CareCentric is joining up records for 1.1 million residents from 147 GP practices, two acute trusts, one combined community and mental health trust, one mental health trust, two councils, and six clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).

Whether individuals are being treated by their GP, in a community-based service, or in hospital, their shared digital care record will be accessible 24/7 either independently or within patient context from an existing system, with appropriate permissions and consent.

Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have done very well to roll out a large-scale regional sharing deployment during a challenging period

Prior to the connected service, care professionals needed to contact other health and social care organisations to find out information on patients.

One Health and Care has negated this time-consuming step in the care process, which is helping to provide an improved patient experience and increased efficiency so care professionals can spend more time providing ‘hands on’ care for local people.

Brian Waters, chief executive of Graphnet, said: “Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have done very well to roll out a large-scale regional sharing deployment during a challenging period.

“We are committed to supporting them further and we’re looking forward to developing the care record to full maturity with the introduction of a patient health record and population health platform.”