The London Care Record has now been used over 30 million times by frontline health and care staff helping them provide faster, safer and more effective care across the Capital and beyond (21 June 2023).

Each month it is viewed well over a million times by around 75,000 health and care staff helping to ensure they have the information they need about a person when they need it, to inform their clinical decision making.

The London Care Record is a single and secure view of a person’s health and care information and includes any conditions which a person has, their test results, medicines, allergies, plans for their care and other useful information such as hospital discharge summaries. Only staff involved in a patient’s care are allowed to access the information.

Several recent key developments have helped the London Care Record reach this major milestone by providing more health and care staff with access and increasing the richness of the information it contains. These include:

• New health and care settings, such as University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, are sharing key information across the Capital through the London Care Record.
• The first care homes in the Capital can now view the London Care Record helping them provide more effective care for their residents.
• London Ambulance Service and London Air Ambulance Service patient information is now being sent in real time into the London Care Record, supporting the handover process and helping to improve the continuity of care patients receive.
• Key information about patients with heart conditions who are being monitored remotely through the Ortus-iHealth systems is now being securely shared through the London Care Record.
• Universal Care Plans can now be viewed through the London Care Record, helping to ensure people’s care and support wishes are respected.

While the London Care Record has become an essential tool for so many frontline staff OneLondon and its partners have plans to further increase its clinical value and accessibility over the coming months. These plans include extending London-wide data sharing across all health and care organisations in the Capital and making sure that more frontline NHS and social care are able to access it, including more mobile ways to view it so professionals like community nurses and ambulance teams can access information on the move.

Sally Wiltshire, OneLondon Senior Programme Manager, said:

“It’s great news that the London Care Record has now supported over 30 million moments of care. We have plans to build on this over the years ahead by extending London-wide data sharing across the Capital’s health and care organisations and making sure more staff can access this vital tool. This will help to further increase the richness, clinical value and accessibility of the London Care Record and support even more frontline staff provide effective care.”

Dr Phil Koczan, GP and NHS England Digital Clinical Lead, said:

“As a GP in north east London I see first hand the positive difference the London Care Record is making. By having immediate access to important information it gives me a more complete picture of a patient helping me make informed decisions more quickly.”

Dr Sanjay Gautama, Clinical Informatics Lead for London, Consultant Anaesthetist, Chief Clinical Information Officer, and Caldicott Guardian for Imperial College Healthcare Trust NHS, said:

“Working in a busy NHS Trust I see first hand the positive difference the London Care Record is making. It allows me to have a more informed conversation with my patients, providing them with assurance but also significantly increasing the clinical safety through having the right information in the right place at the right time.”

Denise Fry, Adult Social Care Access Team at the Royal Borough of Kingston, said:

“I regularly use the London Care Record which is helping with our day to day work at the front door of Adult Social Care. It enables us to locate a person’s GP and confirm any medications and diagnoses. This gives us a better understanding of the person’s whole story.”