The general public are not looking for all well being and care professionals to have full entry to a single affected person document (SPR) and would like a tiered system of entry, in accordance with authorities analysis.
NHS England and the Division of Well being and Social Care commissioned company Thinks Perception & Technique to conduct a large-scale public engagement programme to construct and keep public belief in how information is used throughout well being and social care.
In October 2024, the federal government introduced plans to launch a SPR as a part of the NHS 10 yr well being plan, summarising affected person well being data, check outcomes and letters in a single place, via the NHS App.
The general public engagement programme, which occurred in 2024, concerned discussions with a core group of round 120 individuals, one other 76 from ‘seldom heard teams’ and a web based survey of two,000 individuals.
A report summarising findings of the analysis, printed in June 2025, says that in discussions members “usually agreed that the primary benefit of getting a single affected person document can be effectivity, thus resulting in improved care and higher well being outcomes”.
It provides that “aid was felt at the concept that a single affected person document may finish the necessity for sufferers to repeat their well being data a number of instances throughout completely different well being and care settings.”
Nonetheless, members rejected the concept that all well being and care professionals ought to have full entry to a person’s SPR.
As an alternative, they favoured a drained system of entry, based mostly totally on urgency and breadth of care obligations, with entry restricted to the related parts of a SPR.
An audit path was seen by the general public as a key a part of a document system, figuring out who had accessed which components of the document.
The report makes the next coverage suggestions on the SPR for the federal government to think about:
- Proceed at tempo – a SPR appears like a long-overdue answer to lots of the frustrations the general public really feel throughout a number of well being and care settings.
- Embrace a document of entry – an audit path will present reassurance that entry is topic to constraints and oversight.
- Tiered entry is crucial – constraints on entry are important to the general public trusting a SPR. The concept of open entry to all well being and care professionals is roundly rejected.
- Guarantee rigorous coaching in information use and information safety – any well being and care professionals accessing a SPR needs to be skilled, so the general public are reassured that their information is getting used safely and appropriately.
- Affected person entry is a should – this may also help sufferers higher handle their very own well being, and lots of felt that they had the suitable to entry information about them. Whereas affected person entry is essential, it was a lesser implementation precedence in comparison with entry for well being and care professionals.
- Deal with and exhibit excessive ranges of information safety
- Be clear from the beginning throughout implementation, in addition to in day-to-day operation – acknowledge dangers up entrance and guarantee sufferers have a say in implementation.
Digital Well being Information solely revealed in February 2025 that the SPR can be out there to researchers by default, in addition to to suppliers, sufferers, policymakers and researchers.
