The London Care Record has been viewed around 1,500 times by care home staff in the last few weeks, supporting them to provide more effective care for their residents.
As part of a pilot programme in late 2022 the first care homes in the capital were connected to the London Care Record. A partnership between OneLondon, the NHS Regional Care Home team, Person Centred Software and Oracle Health, the pilot saw 28 care homes across North East London, North West London and South West London sign up to the record.
With the record being expanded to care homes, staff working in these settings are able to access wider and vital information about their residents for the first time with a single and secure view. This information comes from a range of health and care settings across London.
The most viewed information for care home staff has been hospital discharge summaries, diagnostic reports, laboratory results and care plans.
Feedback from care home managers has underlined the importance of staff having access to complete information in order to provide effective, safe care. It is also saving staff valuable time which can be used elsewhere.
In particular, it was noted that the London Care Record, which is based on a product called the Health Information Exchange (HIE) from Oracle Health, was preventing delays when residents are discharged from hospital as the discharge summaries can be viewed within the record.
It also avoids unnecessary hospital admissions and ensures staff can respect care preferences, with access to residents’ care plans.
Additionally, using the London Care Record meant staff were able to have access to the right information in order to answer questions from relatives, while also reassuring them about the care they were receiving.
Harpreet Shergill, NHS London digital health & care lead, said: “It is great to hear how the London Care Record is already making a difference in care homes – for both residents and staff.
“We will continue to closely monitor its use in our pilot care homes as we plan to roll this out more widely across the capital to support even more staff to provide the best possible care for their residents.”
Following a detailed evaluation of the pilot programme, the record is set to be rolled out more widely across the capital to support more care home staff.
Back in 2018 OneLondon was named by NHS England as one of the first Local Health and Care Record Exemplars (LHCRE) alongside Greater Manchester and Wessex.