Background
The government has longstanding ambitions for the NHS to make better use of digital tools that integrate patient records to improve quality of care and wider NHS productivity. Integrating patient records onto a single organisational system can allow clinicians across an organisation to see and update records, saving time and contributing to improved, safer care.
The NHS expects patients to benefit from safer care and better consultations where they do not have to repeat their medical history. Most acute trusts now use electronic patient record systems, and the NHS has been working to improve patients’ access to their own records. NHS England is seeking to build on this further with national initiatives including the Federated Data Platform, expanding the NHS App and early work towards a Single Patient Record.
Scope
This study will examine how the Department of Health & Social Care and the NHS in England are working to integrate patient data, and whether they are on track to secure the expected improvements from their investment.
It will also look at how national programmes are overseen and supported, how those foundational systems can enable wider improvements, and how plans to better use data to improve care and drive productivity growth are being developed and communicated.
NAO team
Director: Eleanor Murray
Audit Manager: Katie Sargeant