The NHS in England is to transform the way patients access their medical records and interact with the health service. Full medical records, test results and letters from doctors will be available in the NHS App under new plans, inspired by innovations elsewhere embracing change with apps in the same way financial institutions have. One of the key themes of the plan will be to move from “analogue to digital” with the creation of a single patient record at the heart of that mission. A government spokesperson said it would speed up patient care, reduce repeat tests and medical errors.
Currently, the NHS App is limited because information is held locally by a patient’s hospital and GP, and not all parts of the health service interact with the app. However, the government intends to create a database joining up individual records kept by local services, so that both patients and those treating them can access their health information, which could potentially speed up treatment when it is urgently needed.
However, while campaigners have raised concerns over data protection, the government has assured that it is “absolutely committed” to protecting confidential medical information. Campaign group MedConfidential has warned and stated that with a single national record, there is a potential for it to be open to abuse, however Care Minister, Stephen Kinnock, insisted that there will be safeguards in place to protect sensitive data.
The new plan is expected to facilitate care for patients, allowing them to easily access their medical records rather than waiting weeks or months. It also seeks to encourage a move away from local hospitals towards decentralising healthcare services, and delegates neighbourhood health centres to deliver tests, GP appointments, physiotherapy, and district nursing. The public engagement exercise begins this week via the launch of website change.nhs.uk
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