A new health and social care shared record system is being launched in Kent and Medway which will deliver significant benefits for the region’s care professionals and its 1.8million residents.
Commissioned by a collaborative comprising the NHS Kent and Medway CCG, Kent County Council and Medway Council, the Kent and Medway Care Record (KMCR) will bring together a single view of each patient’s records from multiple source systems, to help health and social care providers make better decisions for the residents in their care.
It will contain automated, regular data feeds from four acute hospital trusts, three community services providers, two community based mental health services providers, 225 GP practices (main sites) and 85 branch sites, and around 466 social care teams based in local authorities.
The KMCR is designed to improve outcomes and experiences for the citizens of Kent and offer considerable efficiencies and time-saving benefits to health and social care professionals across the county.
Benefits of the KMCR will include:
- Patients will no longer need to keep repeating their medical and social care history when seen by different services.
- Patients will be able to access their own data, helping them feel more involved and engaged in their own care.
The KMCR will enable clinicians and social carers to see what care citizens are receiving from other services such as medication prescribed, alerts or allergies, hospital test results and if the patient has a social care package. This more detailed and timely information will allow faster clinical decisions to be made, improve communications between referrers and service providers and improve continuity of care.
The KMCR does not give full access to patient records to all services but is designed to share key information that will allow health and social care professionals give local people better care and support. Information shared through the KMCR includes:
- Demographics
- Next of Kin / Carer details
- Medications (current)
- Allergies
- Safeguarding alerts
- Pathology results
- Chronological list of contact with health and social care professionals, including A&E attendances
- Key social care data (children & adults)
- Mental health summary data including medication (children and adults)
- Referrals to other organisations
- Carer & care provider details e.g. if they are being looked after by multiple agencies and contact details for each organisation
- The current location of the patient e.g. inpatient, care home, step-down, mental health unit
- Advance Directives e.g. Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR)
- Care plans (including end of life plans, crisis care plans, anticipatory care plans).
Supporting Kent and Medway's response to the COVID-19 pandemic
The KMCR is also contributing to Kent and Medway’s COVID response and recovery. A COVID dashboard has been developed to coordinate recovery and response planning across the county. The COVID dashboard provides greater intelligence and information about the virus such as hot spots, demographic information etc. In response to the pandemic, the KMCR includes information about when a patient has been tested or diagnosed with COVID to ensure continuity of care across different care settings. Rapid progress has been made in weeks rather than months as part of the county’s COVID-19 response plan and collaborative effort.
Helping residents receive better coordination of care
Cllr David Brake, Portfolio Holder covering Public Health for Medway Council, said: “We are pleased to be working with our health partners on the Kent and Medway Care Record. This new innovative approach will help our residents receive better coordination of care to suit their individual health and social care needs. We are committed to supporting our most vulnerable residents, even more so in these challenging times.”
Delivering significant transformational change
Dr Navin Kumta, clinical chair of Kent and Medway CCG, said: "We are looking to this shared record to deliver a significant transformational change in Kent and Medway. As well as helping us improve the quality and safety of care for patients, it will underpin our drive to integrate citizen’s records across health and social care.”
Positive impact on speed and quality of care
Clair Bell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care & Public Health at Kent County Council, said: “The KMCR is a significant step forward which will provide benefits to health and social care professionals, and most importantly to our Kent and Medway residents. It is also a good example of how collaboration between organisations can deliver better services for everyone. I am looking forward to seeing the positive impact this will have on speed and quality of care for our residents for years to come.”
Joining up records
Matt Dunkley, Corporate Director for Children, Young People and Education at Kent County Council, said: “The KMCR will join up records across Children’s Social Care, Adults Social Care, and community and acute health services in both Kent and Medway. This will support more timely information sharing and better decision making amongst professionals, for the benefit of Kent residents. We are looking forward to the positive impact this should have in the way we can support the most vulnerable children in Kent.”
The solution is provided by Graphnet Health Ltd. The project to deliver the solution is being led by Cantium Business Solutions.
Working in partnership
Brian Waters, chief executive, Graphnet, said: “Kent and Medway are using a shared record as it is intended – as a driver for transformation. We are very much looking forward to working in partnership with them, helping ensure that care is efficiently and effectively co-ordinated, and that clinical decisions are well informed.”
Changing and saving lives
Steve Whiting, client director for healthcare at Cantium, said: “We are very proud of the work we are doing alongside the health and social care organisations in the area to bring the KMCR to life. It’s a complex project but one which we are extremely committed to driving to success, given its potential to transform the care that people receive, in some instances changing and saving lives.”
All health and adult social care organisations must, by law, share information with each other about patients they are caring for directly, to improve care, in line with the provisions of the Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015. The implementation of the KMCR will enable Kent and Medway to meet this requirement mandated by central government.
Access to the KMCR will be governed by General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) which has been approved by NHS Kent and Medway CCG.
All core providers and local authority social care teams will have access to the KMCR by April 2021. In the future, citizens will also be able to access their own patient records through the KMCR and planning for this will start from next year.