Social care information from Durham County Council has now been made available through the health information exchange across the North East and North Cumbria.
Adult social care staff can now share selected information about a person they are supporting, such as key medical and care history and details about any equipment or adaptation they require.
Durham County Council becomes the second local authority in the region to connect social care information to the platform, following Sunderland City Council who connected last year.
The system is used across the region to support staff, who currently view shared records more than 377,000 times a month. Connected health and care organisations in the region include every health trust, out-of-hours provider, clinical commissioning group, North East Ambulance Service, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Gateshead councils, and more organisations are set to follow.
Dr Phil Stamp, Emergency Medicine Consultant at Northumbria Healthcare Trust and the Regional Clinical Safety Officer for the Great North Care Record, said: “An increase in local authority information within the region’s shared care record means that health and care staff will, with appropriate safeguards, be provided with a greater depth of understanding of the needs of their patients, citizens or clients.
“Local authority information in particular is very valuable as it contains a record of caring needs and details which helps support the care of the some of the most vulnerable among us, so the addition of Durham County Council’s information is a great step towards better integrated care across the region.”
Councillor Paul Sexton, Durham County Council’s Cabinet member for adult and health services, added: “Ensuring that we are sharing key critical information safely and appropriately about the people in our care will help to inform clinical decision-making and, ultimately, have a positive impact on the quality of care that our clients receive.”
Last month, HTN welcomed Dr Phil Stamp for HTN Now, to share in detail with our audience the Great North Care Record programme. If you missed the session you can read more or watch the session back here.
