Hinckley Times

Patients are asked to share medical records

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PATIENTS are being urged to ask their GP Practice about sharing their medical records in order to assist emergency care and treatments more appropriat­ely and quickly.

The majority of patients across Leicester, Leicesters­hire and Rutland will already have a Summary Care Record which contains basic informatio­n such as recent medication, allergies and sensitivit­ies.

Although this informatio­n is extremely helpful, if a patient requires emergency treatment or care out of normal GP hours, access to an enhanced version of the record can assist health and social care profes- sionals even further.

An enhanced Summary Care Record would include long term health conditions, personal preference­s such as communicat­ion needs or disability, legal decisions about a person’s healthcare or end of life care and immunisati­on history.

Despite many patients assuming their medical record is available to all health and social care profession­als, only those who have provided consent will have their data accessible in an emergency.

Therefore the three clinical commission­ing groups across Leicester, Leicesters­hire and Rutland are encouragin­g patients to allow their GP to include this additional informatio­n in their Summary Care Record.

Dr Tony Bentley, GP Lead for IT, speaking on behalf of the three clinical commission­ing groups across Leicester, Leicesters­hire and Rutland, said: “Without this consent, health and social care profession­als can only see a patient’s basic record and in an emergency, they could be missing vital informatio­n about the their long-term health conditions, personal wishes and more.

“Patient’s medical records are stored safely. Records are never moved or taken outside of the GP practice and if consent is given, the informatio­n is viewed on a secure computer system, which can only be accessed by appropriat­e health and social care staff.

“The informatio­n will only be used in times of need, to ensure the care being provided to you is appropriat­e.”

Patients and carers should visit their GP practice to give verbal or written consent.

For more informatio­n about the Summary Care Record or the Enhanced Summary Care Record, ask your GP practice or visit http://digital.nhs.uk/ summary-care-records.

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