London Ambulance Service teams are now able to view important information about the people they are treating thanks to a new mobile app version of the London Care Record (5 October 2023).

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.

London Ambulance Service (LAS) has worked with OneLondon, the Innovation Team at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and Conjure (a digital product agency) to develop and introduce the mobile app version of the London Care Record which is installed on iPads issued to every ambulance clinician.

Tom Patmore, a Paramedic involved in the initial pilot said:

“I have found that having access to the London Care Record has been fantastic! It gives me greater confidence in the clinical plans I am making for patients. Having an increased access to hospital discharge information means a better understanding of previous discharges. And this leads to more effective referrals to community treatment teams when it is appropriate, helping to keep patients in their place of preferred care.”

Following successful testing of the app in South West London over the summer it has now been rolled out to all LAS teams across the capital – over 5,000 members of staff.

In the first month since its London-wide launch, the app has been used over 10,000 times by crews at LAS.

They report that having instant access to a person’s health information while responding to a call is making a really positive difference helping them determine the best course of treatment for their patient, which may not be an Emergency Department (ED), which in turn can help ease pressure at hospitals.

Nigel Wong, Deputy Chief Clinical Information Officer at London Ambulance Service, said:

“Access to clinical information within the London Ambulance Service is key in ensuring that our clinicians have all the right information possible to help provide our patients with the best and most appropriate care. The application was designed from the ground up – led by clinicians, so that their requirements were met and to ensure adoption was high. With the launch of the London Care Record Mobile Viewer, all our clinicians now have access to more clinical information than ever before.”

As part of wider work to give more frontline staff access to the London Care Record, OneLondon is considering how other mobile versions of this tool can be developed and provided to other health and care staff in more mobile roles like community nurses and care staff.