Minister of State for Health, Karin Smyth said the new NHS Modernisation Bill paves the way for the Single Patient Record (Photo: House of Commons)
Patients could receive safer, quicker and more coordinated care under new legislation designed to introduce a Single Patient Record across the NHS in England.
The NHS Modernisation Bill, brought forward on Thursday 14 May, will require NHS providers, including hospitals and general practitioners, to share patient information so that doctors, nurses and specialists can securely access a person’s medical history wherever they are treated.
The Government says the changes will reduce the need for patients to repeat their medical history across different services, support better care closer to home, and help clinicians avoid working with incomplete information.
Health Minister, Karin Smyth said the Bill “paves the way for the Single Patient Record, enabling patients to have real control over their care through a single, secure and authoritative account of their data for the first time ever.”
She added that it would be a “gamechanger” by allowing NHS staff to see patients’ medical records, “delivering better care faster and more conveniently, and even saving lives.”
Single Patient Record aims to join up care
The Single Patient Record is expected to give health and care professionals access to a detailed real-time record in one place. Early access for clinicians is expected from 2027 in specialities including maternity and frailty care.
For patients, the reform is intended to improve safety, coordination and transparency, with safeguards, audit trails and choices over how data is used. For clinicians, it should reduce duplication, repeated tests and the need to search across multiple systems.
Dr Alec Price-Forbes, National Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS England, said the Single Patient Record would “revolutionise patient care” by giving health and care professionals across the country “a detailed record of a patient’s care in one place.”
He said that, for too long, information had been held in silos, leading to patients “having to repeat their story multiple times in different care settings,” creating duplication, gaps in understanding and frustration.
Former Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, and Chair of Curia’s Health, Care, and Life Sciences Research Group, Rt Hon Andrew Stephenson CBE said “Introducing a Single Patient Record could be a major step towards safer, faster and more joined up NHS care. Patients should not have to repeat their story across different services, and clinicians need the right information at the right time.
“The ambition is welcome, but the test will be whether this improves care for patients, reduces pressure on staff and maintains public trust in how data is used.”
Maternity and frailty care among early priorities
Patient groups and clinicians have welcomed the potential impact of joined-up records in areas where fragmented information can directly affect care.
Dr Michael Cocker, consultant obstetrician at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said the Single Patient Record would “set a new benchmark” for maternity care in the NHS.
At present, women are often required to go through their entire medical history at their first appointment with a midwife, relying on memory and risking gaps in information as they move through pregnancy. Dr Cocker said the new record would help clinicians “provide safe care and personalised care.”
Dr Maurice Cohen, consultant geriatrician at North Middlesex Hospital and Clinical Director at the London Frailty Network, said the change would mean the NHS is “wrapping ourselves around the patient rather than the patient wrapping themselves around us.”
NHS England abolition to cut bureaucracy
Alongside the data reforms, the Bill will formally transfer NHS England’s functions into the Department of Health and Social Care and the wider system.
Ministers argue this will simplify the NHS structure, reduce duplication and move power and resources closer to frontline organisations. The Government says local leaders have complained of “two centres” of control, creating confusion, inertia and weakened democratic accountability.
Smyth said the Government would “strip back bureaucracy by abolishing NHS England, empowering frontline staff as part of our 10 Year Health Plan.”
The Bill will also make changes to streamline the patient safety landscape, embed patient voices in national and local decision making, and empower Integrated Care Boards and Foundation Trusts to deliver services shaped around local need.
Department of Health and Social Care officials today (x.com/DHSCgovuk)
Patient groups welcome opportunity but warn on trust
Jacob Lant, Chief Executive at National Voices, said a single patient record “could be a game changer for patient safety and experience.”
He said that, done well, it should reduce the burden on people repeating their story, help clinicians access the information they need, and support patients to feel that “the NHS knows who they are and what matters to them.”
However, he warned that use of data beyond direct care must include “clear safeguards, transparent rules on who can access information and why, and meaningful ways for people to exercise their rights.”
Dr Jeanette Dickson, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said the Bill “finally delivers the possibility of a joined-up, comprehensive single patient record,” improving safety and patient experience by allowing clinicians to access records wherever the patient is.
She added: “No more repeating the same story every time you go to a hospital or GP and no need to repeat tests because the doctor ‘can’t see’ the result.”
Dr Dickson also warned that new technologies must not deepen inequalities, saying the NHS must ensure they do not further exclude those who are “digitally impoverished.”
Commenting on the announcement, UK Healthcare and Life Sciences Innovation Chief Executive, Jo Bekis told Chamber UK: “This is a welcome and much overdue commitment to improving patient records, the need to ensure system wide integration and safety of those records for clinicians use and access is paramount to reducing administrative burdens, duplications and errors.
“Cybersecurity has been a longstanding priority around digital efficiency and as technology advances we need to ensure this full integration provides robust mechanisms that will provide speed, accuracy, safety, and ease of navigation for patient history, the vision now must focus in on successfully delivery.”