Integrated Care System (ICS) leaders emphasize the importance of sustainable funding for shared care records at a recent Digital Networks Exchange event.
Discussions at the session “ICS Digital Priorities Unveiled: Shaping the Future of the NHS” centered around shared care records and broader digital maturity agenda concerns.
Hannah Wall, NHS England’s stakeholder relationship senior manager for the Connecting Care Records Programme, highlighted the significance of the National Record Locator Service (NRLS). She stressed the need for 20% of acute patient care provision taking place outside patients’ home integrated care board. The extended NHSE program aims to build on existing shared records with five core priorities, including sustainability.
Community Embedding
Laura Godtschalk, shared care record programme manager at Leicester, Leicestershire & Rutland ICS (LLR), emphasized the shared care records’ role in bringing health and social care organizations closer together. Despite challenges, LLR is focusing on empowering patients and preventative healthcare through shared records.
Joe McGuigan, ICB director of digital operations and assurance for Lancashire and South Cumbria, shared success stories of shared care records contributing to better care management, with significant reductions in hospital admissions.
During the event, discussions also revolved around the challenges of funding and sustaining shared care record projects, with NHSE’s commitment to ensuring sustainability post-2025.
The event emphasized the need for NHS trusts to fully utilize electronic patient records, with only 10 to 30% currently making full use of their systems.
