Future Forum calls for access plan

The NHS Future Forum has said the government needs to develop a plan to deliver on its commitment to give patients access to their online records by 2015.

The forum’s summary report – second phase was due to be released onto the Department of Health website at midnight.

Hints of what it contained led to a flurry of media interest in the issue of patient records access in the days before Christmas.

NHS Future Forum chairman Professor Steve Field says in the report that citizens should be equal partners in their care, rather than passive consumers, and that a key part of this is patient ownership of their data.

The government has already made a number of commitments to giving patients access to records and other data.

It’s ‘Information Revolution’ consultation on a new NHS information strategy said patient access to records should start with GP records and then extend to hospital and other medical records.

In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor George Osborne said that all patients should have access to their online GP records by the end of this Parliament – 2015.

The NHS Future Forum supports that commitment and says the information strategy must clearly set out how this will be achieved, “recognising that there is both a financial and time burden to GP practices and by providing meaningful help and support to them.”

Professor Field says the Royal College of General Practitioners, in partnership with the British Medical Association, NHS Commissioning Board and relevant patient organisations, should be invited by the Department of Health to “develop a plan that delivers the roll-out of access to patient records by 2015.”

“Switching on patient access alone is not enough, and potentially detrimental if appropriate support structures are not in place for patients so that they understand and know how to use the information,” he says.

“The planned rollout of patient access to electronic records by the government must acknowledge this and ensure that a support structure is in place, including a proper consent process.”

The report also recommends that the information strategy should emphasise the growing importance of patient generated comments via all forms of social media, and the need for the NHS to learn how to use this feedback to improve services.

It says that hospital discharge summaries should be made available to the GP and the patient at the point of discharge and GP referral letters should be available at the point of referral.

The NHS Future Forum was initially set up to conduct a 'listening exercise' into the government's 'Liberating the NHS' reforms last summer. Since then, it has done additional work on training, integration and information issues.

It's latest report also highlights the importance of sharing patient data between systems and interoperability.

“The NHS must move to using its IT systems to share data about individual patients and service users electronically – and develop a consent model that facilitates this in the interests of high quality care.”

Professor Field says it should be up to individual providers as to how this should be achieved, but there should be common goals and standards to guide them.