Shared Health and Care Records

In November 2016, we completed a pilot project with Sherwood Forest Hospital Trust (SFHT) to share basic social care data with the Emergency Department staff at King’s Mill Hospital. This allowed the clinicians on the front door to know if there was a care provider in place and contact them directly. It was well received and used daily by the staff on site

Since then as part of the NHS Digital Demonstrators project, the same system was set up at Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals (DBTH). This is used daily by the staff at the hospital in their own “Clinical Portal” and again helps the staff have basic social care information when they need it, without requiring them to contact our social care teams.

Our social care staff have access to the Nottinghamshire Health and Care Portal which has information including GP details on allergies, diagnosis and medications; hospital information from Sherwood Forest and Nottingham University Hospitals and mental health information from Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust.

We also share our social care information into the portal to allow all clinicians across the joint organisations to see social care information such as providers and their contact details. This means health staff can speak to care providers directly about the support in place or concerns without needing to call us first.

User Story 1

Tina* had a pre-arranged visit from the involved Mental Health Practitioner Social Worker at home.  They were not at in at the time and the Social Worker was concerned they could not contact them. After speaking to health colleagues including the involved Psychiatric Nurses none of which could contact Tina.

The social worker checked the Nottinghamshire Health and Care Portal to see that Tina had been admitted to Hospital and what ward she was on.

The social worker was able to establish Tina was safe and supported and stand down the other involved clinicians concerned for her safety. Previously this would be difficult to find out easily and involve calling multiple hospitals to establish her safety.

User Story 2

Vicky* was referred to Adult Social Care for some equipment and rehousing through the Customer Service Centre.

The allocated worker quickly identified that she had had 15 falls over six months but never had a Falls Assessment. She was using a wheelchair as a frame that she had purchased, and this was clearly unsafe. As she was vague about her medical conditions, checked the Portal and could see she had not been to the GP for a long time. The allocated worker felt she needed a review to help understand her health needs for the equipment support to be suitable. They rang the GP to ask for this, which would also give the GP the opportunity to investigate any other health issues they weren’t aware of.

However, over the next few weeks Vicky seemed to become increasingly upset and confused. She didn’t attend her GP appointment and was acting strangely, giving them concerns beyond the original referral. The worker accessed the mental health section of the Portal and was able to see that she was known to the Community Mental Health Team (CMHT). After speaking to the Crisis Team, the worker spoke to Vicky again and she told them that she wanted to kill herself. She was able to manage and calm the situation with an offer of support from the Crisis Team which she accepted. She was able to handover support to this team ensuring she got to speak to the right person rather than be passed to another service.

Without this information available to Adult Social Care it may have taken more time to get the right level of support to Vicky.

*not real names