The British NHS is making a significant move to enhance patient access to medical records. Through the NHS App, all citizens will soon be able to view their complete medical records, including communications with doctors, test results, and lab reports. According to the ministers responsible, this initiative is part of a new 10-year plan for the digital transformation of healthcare. The goal is for digitalization to revolutionize the way people engage with healthcare, much like the changes seen in banking.
The British NHS is taking a major step around access to medical records for patients. In the NHS App, all Britons will soon be able to view their full medical records, including all communications with doctors, tests and lab results. According to the responsible ministers, this step is part of a new 10-year plan for the digital revolution of healthcare. The aim is for digitalization to change the way people interact with healthcare in the same way that banking has changed.
Before this happens, the British government still must overcome several challenges. One of these is the fact that patient records are kept locally by GPs and hospitals. In addition, not all healthcare institutions are yet connected to the app. As a result, the number of hospitals and GPs that make patient records available digitally for the NHS app is still limited. The British government is currently working on plans to create a universal EHR.
The digitalization plans of the British government and NHS are ambitious and of course there are also people who are concerned about the protection of data and patient information. The politicians responded that they were ‘absolutely committed’ to protecting confidential medical information.
10-year plan
The plans for full access to medical records via the NHS app come as the UK government, earlier this year, began talks to present its 10-year plan for healthcare. Two pillars of the plan are the digitalization of healthcare and the electronic health records.
This will give patients and their healthcare providers access to information about their health. Steps that are needed to keep healthcare affordable and accessible and to improve quality in the UK too.
Care at home
Another key goal in the 10-year plan is to move hospital care to the home environment or closer to home. The UK government wants local community health centres, where patients can access GP care, community nurses, physios and tests under one roof, to be part of this. The consultation will also consider the views and ideas of patients through a public consultation on the change.nhs.uk website launched on Monday.
“The NHS is facing the worst crisis in its history, but although it is broken, it is not defeated. Together we can fix it. Whether you use the NHS or work in it, you see first-hand what is great, but also what is not. We need your ideas to help change the NHS,” said Health Secretary Wes Streeting.
“For far too long, many patients have felt that their voices have not been fully heard in shaping the health service. The national consultation marks an important step towards real partnership with patients and puts patients at the helm of the evolution of the NHS,” added Rachel Power, Chief Executive of the Patients Association.
