Mid and South Essex deploys shared care record

The Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICS) has gone live with its shared care record, aiming to transform health and care services in the region.

The shared care record from Orion Health is integrated into the existing systems used by the various health and care providers, meaning staff can access a patient’s record from their usual IT system, taking away the need for an extra login.

Tom Abell, CEO of NHS Mid and South Essex ICS, said the launch of the record is an important step on the road to integrating health and social care in the region.

“By providing our health and social care teams with immediate access to vital patient information, we can improve patient safety, reduce duplication, and ensure more coordinated and personalised care,” he said.

“The system not only makes our services more efficient today, but also ensures we are better prepared to meet the changing and growing needs of our population.”

The shared care record platform is currently used by the region’s acute, community and mental health services, as well as GP practices, to look up information such as medical conditions, allergies, referrals, discharge summaries and mental health summaries.

While social care services are not yet part of the shared record, they will be part of the next phase of the programme, which will see adult social care services from three local authorities come on board.

The ICS hopes the care record can help improve care for patients with complex health issues, who often receive care from multiple organisations, which haven’t necessarily been communicating well with each other, as patient information was previously held in silos.

In the first week of it being live, nearly 1,300 staff members accessed the record, supporting the care of more than 9,000 patients. The ICS expects that once the record is fully rolled out, it will deliver £1.7m in annual efficiency savings, and give staff more time to actually spend with the patient, rather than on administrative tasks.

The roadmap for the roll-out has five to six phased go-lives, allowing for updates to be implemented gradually. Eventually, the shared care record will include further data sources, such as pathology and radiology results, as well as potentially onboarding further organisations involved in patient care in the region, such as voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.  

The Mid and South Essex ICS covers a large part of the county, and includes Essex County Council, Southend-on-Sea City Council, Thurrock Council, seven district councils, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, North East London NHS Foundation Trust, Provide, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust, and 180 GP practices in the area. It also covers several independent watchdog bodies and community voluntary services. 

The ICS is also planning on rolling out a patient-held record system, as well as a data and analytics platform, as part of its digital strategy.