The London Care Record is a secure view of your health and care information. It lets health and care professionals involved in your care anywhere in London see important details about your health when and where they need them. It can show doctors, nurses and other care professionals really important information including any conditions you have, your test results, medicines you take, anything you’re allergic to and plans for your care.
Having a single, secure view of your information helps speed up communication between care professionals across London and beyond and helps them make quicker and safer decisions with you. It also means you do not have to recall and repeat your medical history to different frontline staff. This helps to improve the safety of care and can save lives.
Why this is important?
As a user of local health and care services there are lots of advantages to having joined-up records:
- Everyone involved in your care has the whole picture
- When you visit somewhere different for care or meet a new care professional, they have access to important health and care information
- The results of common tests (for example blood tests) are available to everyone involved in your care, regardless of where the test took place, reducing the need to repeat them
- Professionals responsible for your care can look at your health and care records to plan and improve your care
For health and social care professionals:
- An up-to-date record of an individual’s health and social care information helps them to make more informed decisions
- They can spend less time finding out relevant information from different health and social care organisations and IT systems, and don’t have to record duplicate information
- They can use information to plan and improve care for residents
What information is included in the London Care Record?
- Identifying data such as your name, and date of birth
- Details about appointments you have had in different places – e.g. your hospital or GP
- Diagnosed conditions – to make sure your clinical and care staff can provide appropriate care
- Medication – so everyone treating you can see what medicines you have been prescribed
- Allergies – to make sure you’re not given any medicines or treatments that you could have an adverse reaction to
- Test or scan results – to make sure your clinical and care staff can provide appropriate care, and to help ensure tests are not repeated if this isn’t necessary
- Referrals, clinical letters and discharge information – to make sure the people caring for you have all the information they need about other care and treatment you are having elsewhere
- Care plans (if / where available) – for health and care workers involved in your care to view a joined-up plan of care and the wishes you’ve asked for in relation to your care
The information shared varies from organisation to organisation. Most GP surgeries and hospitals in London can now use the London Care Record and share information into it.
In addition, some community health and care services, care homes, out of hours, the London Ambulance Service and other NHS 111 services are also able to use the London Care Record.
Where can I get more information?
We worked with OneLondon to develop secure ways to do share health and care data. Public involvement was central to this work and in 2020 the OneLondon Citizens’ Summit took place where Londoners supported joined up data being used to support individual care, proactive care, planning and research. The recommendations from this Summit and further public events continue to inform our work.
You can find out more about our work with OneLondon by clicking here.
We have a range of material with more detail about how we securely use your information including what to do if you do not want your information shared.
Find out more by clicking the links below: