RCGP Shared Record Professional Guidance
18th August 2009
Dr Alan Hassey, member of the Health
Informatics Group and Project Lead on SRGP, said: “We are pleased
to have had the opportunity to lead this important project.
Appropriate information sharing is essential if we are to provide
safe and effective care for our patients. We are confident that by
implementing the principles and guidance in this report, we will
increase public and professional trust in such systems.
Computerisation of health records enables us
to rapidly share data and information in ways that are not possible
with paper records. This brings obvious benefits for patients, not
just in safety terms but in increasing the efficiency and
flexibility of the healthcare and services we can provide.
Understandably, there have been concerns about
what information is shared - and the mechanisms for sharing it. The
purpose of the Shared Record Professional Guidance (SRPG) project
was to develop a set of professionally-led guidelines that would
consider the governance, medico-legal and patient safety aspects of
the Shared Electronic Patient Record (SEPR) systems in primary
care.
The result is a framework within which Shared
Electronic Patient Records should operate, alongside the principles
for using such systems. We have also developed guidelines to inform
and support doctors and other health professionals working with
shared records.
The need for a shared detailed care record is
compelling and we now believe there are enough checks and balances
to make it a significant move forward in patient safety and
clinical care. The outcomes from this project will produce faster
access to up-to-date information about patients and improve the
ability of healthcare professionals to deliver safer, more
effective care, wherever the patient chooses to access that
care."