PD Sessions: The person-centred healthcare record - pipe dream or inevitability?

The idea of a “person centred healthcare record” is a concept that has moved from the fringes of clinical informatics geekery, to the mainstream.

Labour’s NHS mission commits to making the NHS App a “one stop shop” for health data. The Times Health Commission supports the creation of “patient passports” to provide a single system to keep track of medical information throughout a person’s life. Back in 2018 Matt Hancock promised in his first speech as former Secretary of State for health to provide interoperable access to patient data. Indeed, allowing citizens to access their own medical records through introducing open standards was a commitment in the NHS’s In­for­ma­tion Man­age­ment & Tech­nol­ogy (IM&T) Strat­egy back in 1991.

Given how difficult it continues to be to access a person's medical care history across the NHS, the question that follows is why has this proven such a challenge for successive administrations, and what lessons should be learned by any incoming administration? Given there is clear alignment on the desired outcome, the answer surely lies in a lack of alignment on the ways and means to achieve it.

This event brings together four digital healthcare experts to debate the question not of what the policy should be, but rather how this policy could or should be delivered, looking at political, commercial, and technical considerations. It will capture the lessons administrations of all colours can learn from previous attempts at such a reform.

Join Chris Fleming (Partner, Public Digital) alongside guest speakers; Rachel Dunscombe (CEO, openEHR), Tracey Watson (Client Principal, Ethical Healthcare Consulting), Gary McAllister (Interim Director os TSAS, NHSE / CTO, OneLondon), Axel Heitmueller (Managing Director, Imperial College Health Partners - representing the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change) and Jess Morley (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Yale University).

Please register for a ticket either in-person at Old Sessions House or via Zoom. For those joining us in person, you’re welcome to join us for optional drinks afterwards.

We hope to see you there!