Bath and North East Somerset goes live with integrated care record

Bath and North East Somerset has deployed a new integrated care record, allowing health and care professionals to share records across the region.

The CareCentric integrated care record system, by supplier Graphnet, was commissioned by Virgin Care, which provides health and social care services in the area on behalf of Bath and North East Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and North East Somerset Council.

The integrated care record means staff have a single point of information, and they can share records across services in the region, whether it’s in the hospital, GP, social services or community care.

The records are currently only available in Bath and North East Somerset, but will be extended to Swindon and Wiltshire in the future, according to GP and chief clinical information officer for Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG, Shanil Mantri.

“The NHS, local authorities, GPs and social care providers are working together to improve health and care outcomes for local people,” Manti said.

“The introduction of integrated care records is a good example of this joint approach, and will do a great deal to ensure everyone can access services quickly and efficiently without having to tell their story to different health and care professionals multiple times.”

According to Joanna Scammell, head of commissioning and wellbeing at Virgin Care, Bath and North East Somerset, having this integrated record during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic is even more important.

“With direct access to the integrated care record, it enables you to find out whether, for example, someone has had a Covid-19 positive diagnosis,” she said.

“This can help professionals understand if someone they are going to visit has been tested or had a positive diagnosis so they are able to support them better, more remotely and with more information about their care.”