Sharing records to improve patient care in Herefordshire
Herefordshire patients will soon benefit from an improved digital sharing system called Herefordshire One Record
This will enable sharing of patient records between GPs and other health care professionals in the county to ensure patients get the best possible treatment when needed.
Patient information is often only available within a single organisation. Herefordshire One Record will allow health care professionals in multiple organisations in Herefordshire to view patient records.
The following organisations will soon have access to the electronic systems to share information:
- Herefordshire GP Practices
- Wye Valley NHS Trust
- St Michael’s Hospice
- Taurus Healthcare (for extended and out-of-hours GP services)
In addition, 2gether NHS Foundation Trust will also have access to view the records shared by the above organisations.
Dr Ian Roper, NHS Herefordshire CCG GP Lead said: “Improving the care of patients is always going to be at the forefront of any healthcare professional’s mind. Herefordshire One Record will enable staff of these organisations to access up-to-date records that are held by the other organisations.
“It means that medical staff involved in patient care (whether they are a GP, Practice Nurse, District Nurse or a Consultant at the hospital) can make more informed choices about the care and medical treatment needed by a patient.
“It also means that patients won’t need to explain their medical history or conditions each time they see a different health care professional.
“Herefordshire One Record will save time and could potentially be life-saving in some circumstances.”
Jane Ives, Managing Director for Wye Valley NHS Trust said: “Sharing data is essential if we are to provide the very best care to patients we can.
“Better information means better patient care. Herefordshire is working towards a vision of safer, secure and more efficient care and Herefordshire One Record will be a key enabler for this.
“Through this new digital system the quality of patient care will be improved through not only the better coordination but reducing the time spent updating health records on different systems by clinical teams and having to request information from other health care providers.
“It will assist with patient information being available in the right place at the right time. We also hope this will reduce admissions and readmissions and decrease duplicate testing. It will help our healthcare services in Herefordshire working in the most efficient ways possible.
Herefordshire One Record is part of a wider Herefordshire and Worcestershire Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) digital strategy which aims to maximise and improve the way the NHS uses digital technology to enhance patient care as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan. The Herefordshire One Record initiative is part of a longer term Herefordshire & Worcestershire programme to improve how information can be shared across care settings, the primary element of this stage of the One Herefordshire project has been to roll-out an Electronic Patient Record System (EMIS) across Community teams, and making it possible to view primary and community care records in A&E.
Herefordshire One Record will roll out starting in Mid-September.