NHS Modernisation Bill to Mandate Shared Electronic Patient Records Across England

The NHS Modernisation Bill will have its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday and will require all NHS providers, including hospitals and GPs, to share patient data so doctors and nurses across England can see a patient’s medical history.

The Department for Health and Social Care said the single patient record system will mean 20,000 fewer visits to A&E each year and will save the NHS more than £20 million by reducing medication errors, adverse drug reactions and duplicate prescribing.

Along with virtual care, the single patient record is projected to cut A&E attendances for frail patients by around 10,000 through better community care and another 10,000 from fewer misdiagnoses.

The department estimated the reforms will result in 6,000 fewer hospital admissions each year based on avoided A&E visits, better heart failure management and improved mental health care co-ordination. It also projected savings of around 500,000 hours a year for doctors by having patient data available on the spot.

Wes Streeting, who resigned as health secretary earlier this month, will speak in the Commons on Monday and urge the government not to abandon the reform agenda.

James Murray was appointed health secretary after Streeting’s resignation. Murray said the single patient record will make care safer and reduce the burden on patients who must repeat their medical history. “I know how much effort it can be to keep different parts of the health service joined up, and how distressing it is for some patients to repeat their medical history over and over,” he said.

The government and NHS England had set a target of March this year for 78 per cent of A&E patients to be admitted, discharged or transferred within four hours. 1 per cent in March. The government hit a key target on cutting the number of people waiting for NHS care but missed its targets to improve A&E waiting times by the end of 2025-26.

Clinicians will gain improved access to records as early as 2027 for specialities including maternity and frailty care. NHS Online, a new optional online service allowing patients to connect digitally with clinicians across England, will launch in 2027.

John Browett has been named chairman of the new Online NHS Trust, which will provide virtual specialist care through the NHS app and video consultations.

The Bill will abolish NHS England and transfer most of its functions to the Department for Health and Social Care or integrated care boards. Dr David Wrigley, deputy chairman of the BMA’s GP committee England, said GPs have protected patients’ confidential records since the NHS’s creation in 1948 and requested clarification that this duty will not be taken away.

” Dr Michael Cocker, consultant obstetrician at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said it will “set a new benchmark” for maternity care.