Image source: House of Commons, CC BY 3.0
A Government minister has said all the organisations in an integrated care system (ICS) will be expected to be connected to a shared care record by some time next year.
Minister for Primary Care and Public Health Neil O’Brien MP set out the point in Parliament in response to a question from Labour MP Feryal Clark on the ability of primary care IT systems to exchange information with those used in secondary care.
O’Brien said that shared care records have now been set up in all of England’s 42 ICSs to connect NHS trusts to GPs.
He added: “Our goal is for all constituent organisations of an integrated care system to be connected to an integrated lifelong health and care record by 2024, enabled by core national capabilities, local health records and shared care records, giving individuals, their approved caregivers and their care teams the ability to view and contribute to the record.”
No reference
O’Brien made no specific reference to social care organisations within an ICS.
In the Joining up care for people, places and populations white paper, published last year, the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) highlighted the importance of operational social care records being connected to a shared care record.
Last month, DHSC published an independent review into digital and data priorities for integrated care that emphasised the urgency of giving local authority, social care providers and voluntary, community, faith and social enterprises equal access to the records.
It added that individuals should be access to access as much of their own data as possible.
