In a recent interview with Digital Health News, Lee Rickles emphasized that shared care records are often overlooked in favor of other digital health initiatives like electronic patient records.
Rickles, the trust CIO at Humber Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, highlighted the challenges faced by shared care records and the need for more funding. He noted that these records have struggled to gain the same level of investment and attention as electronic patient records.
With NHS England’s focus mainly on Federated Data Platform and EPRs in their priorities, shared care records have taken a backseat, leading to funding challenges and unclear direction for their development.
Funding Challenges and Summit 2024
Rickles pointed out the lack of funding and resources for shared care records, especially in the current environment of overspending by ICSs. He highlighted the upcoming Shared Care Record Summit in April 2024 as a key event to address these challenges and showcase progress in shared care record solutions.
The summit aims to bring together NHS England staff and local stakeholders to discuss the future plans for shared care records and push for more investment and support in this essential digital health service.
