- NHS Modernisation Bill will introduce two big changes – joining up health information and abolishing NHS England
- Single Patient Record will mean NHS staff can see a patient’s full medical history and patients won’t have to repeat their story unnecessarily
- Legislation will enable power and resources to be put in the hands of frontline NHS organisations by scrapping world’s largest quango
Patients will receive safer, quicker and more accurate healthcare thanks to new legislation marking the next step in the government’s modernisation agenda.
The NHS Modernisation Bill brought forward today [Thursday 14 May] will introduce the Single Patient Record, allowing fragmented health information to be joined up around the country, and will cut layers of bureaucracy so more time and money can be spent on frontline services.
The Single Patient Record will mean all NHS providers – including hospitals and GPs – will have to share data so the right doctors, nurses and specialists across England can securely see a patient’s full medical history – no matter where they are treated. Clinicians will benefit from improved access to records as early as 2027 for specialities including maternity and frailty care.
For patients, this means they won’t have to repeat their story unnecessarily. It will result in safer, more coordinated care, with clinicians having the full picture when and where it’s needed. It will support better care closer to home – joining up community services and helping people manage their conditions.
Patients will also have more control over their care and transparency, with clear safeguards, audit trails, and choice over how their data is used.
For clinicians it means no more working with missing information or having to check in multiple places to find the same data, while it will mean greater efficiency and fewer costly mistakes for the NHS as a whole.
The Bill will also formally transfer NHS England’s functions into DHSC and the wider system, ensuring the NHS is there for patients when they need it, a better place for staff to work and better value for taxpayers.
Health Minister, Karin Smyth said
The NHS Modernisation Bill paves the way for the Single Patient Record, enabling patients to have real control over their care through a single, secure and authoritative account of their data for the first time ever.
It will be a gamechanger that means NHS staff can see patients’ medical records, allowing them to deliver better care faster and more conveniently, and even saving lives.
We will also strip back bureaucracy by abolishing NHS England, empowering frontline staff as part of our 10 Year Health Plan.
Patient groups and organisations across the country have been calling for the kind of change the Single Patient Record will deliver for more than a decade with Dr Michael Cocker, consultant obstetrician at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, saying it will “set a new benchmark” for maternity care in the NHS.
Currently women are required to go through their entire medical history in a first appointment with a midwife, which is reliant on memory and can create gaps in information as they move through their pregnancy. The Single Patient Record will stop this issue at source, meaning clinicians can “provide safe care and personalised care”, he said.
Dr Maurice Cohen, consultant geriatrician at North Middlesex Hospital and Clinical Director at the London Frailty Network, said the Single Patient Record would mean the NHS is “wrapping ourselves around the patient rather than the patient wrapping themselves around us”.
The Bill will enable information related to a patient’s health and care to be processed for the purposes of establishing and operating the Single Patient Record but will be robust to the threat of data breaches with public and healthcare professionals consulted throughout its design.
Dr Alec Price-Forbes, National Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS England, said
The Single Patient Record will revolutionise patient care – giving all health and care professionals across the country a detailed record of a patient’s care in one place.
For too long, patient information has been held in silos, leading to patients having to repeat their story multiple times in different care settings, creating the potential for duplication or gaps in understanding by those treating them – and understandable frustrations and a poor experience for patients.
The Single Patient Record will be available to all health and care staff in real time, meaning patients get higher quality, safer, joined-up and more personalised care.
Robust protections will be built in, including different levels of access to reflect different needs and clear audit trails – ensuring the public can trust that their data is always secure.
Alongside enabling the Single Patient Record, the Bill (formally called the Health Bill) will reduce bureaucracy by simplifying the NHS structure, including formally transferring NHS England’s functions into DHSC and out to the wider system.
Local leaders have complained of “two centres”, creating confusion and inertia, and – most importantly – diluting democratic accountability for the NHS.
Abolishing NHS England will reduce duplication and free up resources to be reinvested in the frontline, with less time spent on administration, and more time focused on delivering care.
Alongside this, changes will be made to streamline and strengthen the patient safety landscape, embed patient voices at the heart of national and local decision making and empower Integrated Care Boards and Foundation Trusts to deliver for patients.
These changes put patients back at the heart of our health system, with clarified roles for local leaders, and decision making devolved to a local level, so those who truly understand the needs of their communities are trusted to shape and integrate services more effectively.
Jacob Lant, Chief Executive at National Voices, said
Creating a single patient record across the NHS could be a game changer for patient safety and experience. Done well, it should reduce the burden on people having to repeat their story, help clinicians access the information they need, and support patients to feel that the NHS knows who they are and what matters to them.
This is a significant opportunity to make better use of existing patient data to support high-quality clinical research and improved service design. But any use of data beyond direct care must have clear safeguards, transparent rules on who can access information and why, and meaningful ways for people to exercise their rights.
It is therefore absolutely right that the creation of the single patient record is set out in the NHS Modernisation Bill, which means — unlike previous NHS data sharing plans — this move can be properly scrutinised by Parliament, providing the transparency and accountability needed to build public confidence and trust.
Dr Jeanette Dickson, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said
The Bill finally delivers the possibility of a joined-up, comprehensive single patient record which will not only improve patient safety but also patient experience by enabling clinicians to access patients’ records, wherever the patient is. No more repeating the same story every time you go to a hospital or GP and no need to repeat tests because the doctor ‘can’t see’ the result.
An added bonus is the positive impact on doctors working lives, as well as more rapid patient flow through the system. The Bill rightly tries to make new technologies work for patients, but we must be sure this does not increase health inequalities by further excluding those who are digitally impoverished.
