Shared Health and Care Record

Sometimes we can be surprised when we visit the GP, hospital or social care professional that they do not have all our health and care information immediately to hand.  That’s because different health and social care organisations use different IT systems to record information about us and they are not all connected.

For you that could mean being asked the same questions many times when you go to different places for health and care; especially about things like medication, allergies and treatment history.

Health and social care organisations have been developing technology that allows these different record systems to connect to each other. This means that health and social care professionals involved in your direct care will be able to confidentially access relevant information to provide you with the safest and best care.

The Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Shared Health and Care Record (SHCR) is an electronic record of a person’s care.  It takes information directly from existing systems used by health and social care organisations and presents it in an easy to read format for health and social care professionals to provide your care.

The SHCR has been developed in response to comments from many people over a number of years, telling us that you only want to tell your story and share information once when receiving care from any health or social care organisation.

What data will be available and who will be able to see it?
The first phase of the SHCR will allow health and social care professionals directly involved in your care to view:

• Your GP practice medical record
• Basic secondary care and mental health data
• Radiology and pathology results.

Having access to this data will help them provide you with the best care as quickly as possible without having to make phone calls or wait for faxes etc.

The first step is to join together data from GP practices to share this with the Emergency Departments at hospitals.  Community and social care, ambulance and 111 data will be added over time. The SHCR will continue to develop providing access to more data across more health and social care settings.

This confidential data will only be available to health and care professionals directly involved in your care.  At the time of receiving care, you will be asked for permission to access your record.  In an emergency situation it may not always be possible to ask you.

There are strict rules on how we use your data. We will make sure your data is managed and shared appropriately and in line with all legal requirements including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. All access will also be subject to audit.

The organisations taking part in the programme are:

• BLMK Clinical Commissioning Group
• GP practices across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes:

• • Member GP Practices – Bedfordshire – BLMK CCG
  • Member GP Practices – Central Beds – BLMK CCG
  • Member GP Practices – Luton – BLMK CCG
  • Member GP Practices – MK – BLMK CCG

The four local councils:

• Bedford Borough Council 
• Central Bedfordshire Council
• Luton Borough Council 
• Milton Keynes Council 

The two hospital trusts that manage three local hospitals:

• Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Luton and Dunstable University Hospital
  • Bedford Hospital
• Milton Keynes University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust 

Our community care, mental health and ambulance service providers:

• Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust 
• Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust  
• East London NHS Foundation Trust 
• East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust 
• South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust

You do not need to do anything.  When the SHCR ‘goes live’, health and social care professionals directly involved in your care, will automatically be able see your data.  We are planning to ‘go live’ across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes in late 2021.

What are the benefits to me of having my data shared?
The benefits to you include:

• Not having to repeat your details every time you receive care
• Better and potentially faster treatment due to access to your information
• Reduction in medication errors by being able to access medication history (past and present)
• If you have Covid, ability to treat you more effectively with knowledge of pre-existing conditions and medications

You have a right to object to your data being shared at any time – it’s your decision. But please think carefully before doing this. Objecting will mean the professionals giving you care will be unable to view your records from other services. This could mean information that could be vital when you need health or social care support – for instance, during a visit to a hospital Emergency Department – might not be immediately available.

If you don’t want your records to be available to health and social care professionals, you need to contact any health or care team that provides your care and they will be able to help. You can also reverse this decision at any time by contacting your health or care provider.

Please be assured that we take the security of your information very seriously. Your Shared Health and Care Record will only be viewed by those who are directly involved in your care at the time they need it. This will help them make the right decisions to give you the best care possible.