The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) has published a new report on lessons learned from the pandemic to support the future of digital change in health and care.
Following a consultation process with 100 of its members, PRSB has published the report examining the digital transformation of services during the pandemic and it recommends how the system can use the lessons in the future.
The Digital Health and Care and COVID-19 report recommendations include building on the enthusiasm for digital but reviewing and evaluating safety implications, particularly for remote and virtual consultation where both clinical risk and patient access need to be addressed. The report also includes a focus on quality in practice, including the use of apps and other digital technologies.
In the report the Body highlights “Almost universally, there was a sense that many of the changed ways of working, with adjustment where necessary, should be retained. However, poor infrastructure, multiple platforms, and lack of interoperability across many health and social care settings prevented optimal service delivery.”
In response PRSB said: “We will review and modify existing standards or develop new ones explicitly to address any significant changes in the delivery of care resulting from the increase in remote and virtual consultation, and we will work with NHS Digital and NHSX to consider how data monitoring could capture any unintended consequences of the shift to virtual consultation.”
The report highlights a need to review which digital innovations and relaxed permissions should be retained and modified across local, regional and national organisations.
The Body also raises the need for a targeted safety review of remote and virtual consultations, and the need to develop standards to support evolving models of care in urgent and emergency services, particularly in relation to NHS 111 services.
Professor Maureen Baker, chair of the PRSB, said: “We also heard that we need to improve information sharing to support new models of care, particularly in urgent and emergency care, as well as for personalisation of care, shared decision making, end of life care and integrating health and social care.”
“We are currently undertaking work to address six of the recommendations, but we believe a strategic approach involving system leaders, our members, and frontline providers and suppliers is also needed.”
