Local Care Record
Health and social care services have a duty to keep complete, accurate and up-to-date information about your treatment and support. At times, services need to share some of your information with others that are supporting you, so that you can receive the best possible care. The Local Care Record is supporting this by putting in place a secure way of sharing information electronically between local health and care professionals involved in your care.
The Local Care Record enables care professionals to view a patient’s medications, previous treatments, test results and any other relevant care information, when it’s needed and at the touch of a button. This is helping to improve the care people receive by making the sharing of information faster, safer and more secure.
In November 2019, the Local Care Record was extended to adult social care to better join up treatments and support for local people.
In March 2018, the Local Care Record was linked with the Connect Care system – connecting up some 15,000 care professionals across Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark to benefit approximately two million people. This means that south east London care staff now have immediate access to the information they need to give you the right care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyOiHPIBgUU&feature=youtu.be
In 2021, King’s Health Partners Local Care Record is set to expand into a London Care Record. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an accelerated effort to join up even more services and include other vital information such as COVID-19 test results for patients. The Connect Care Portal can be accessed via the Local Care Record system, allowing staff to directly access relevant care information from hospitals and primary care providers in other parts of London. For example, a social worker in south east London would now be able to access the Connect Care Portal to check a service user’s referrals and COVID-19 results.
The Local Care Record currently connects the electronic patient record systems at Guy’s and St Thomas’, King’s College Hospital (including the Princess Royal University Hospital) and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trusts with the vast majority of GP practices in Southwark, Lambeth and Bromley. The Local Care Record is now also linked to Connect Care, joining two previously separate systems to offer a secure way of sharing information electronically between local staff involved in your care. This means that hospital and community professionals such as doctors, nurses and care workers are all able to make decisions about your care using the most up-to-date information about you.
We have engaged with local people about the Local Care Record, to provide as much relevant information as possible, and to answer any questions you may have. In addition to the information below, there is also information available in GP surgeries, hospitals and community services in south east London.
Protecting your information in the Local Care Record is vitally important. The confidentiality of the patient and their data is carefully protected and safeguarded every time it is used. Only those health care professionals directly involved in your care will be able to access your information in the Local Care Record. It is essential to keep patient data safe and secure.
To protect your confidential information, data is kept safe by:
- using an independent review process to make sure the reason for using patient data is appropriate
- ensuring strict legal contracts are in place before data is shared
- implementing robust IT security.
The Local Care Record processes and shares data in accordance with relevant legislation, including the Data Protection Act 2018.
To find out more information, please talk to your GP or care professional, or if you wish for your information not to be shared please complete the Local Care Record patient opt out form [PDF 120kb].
If you have any Local Care Record Service related queries, or to report any service issues, please view this guide for more information [PDF 435kb].
Further information and resources
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London Care Record FAQs
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View map of where the Local Care Record has gone live
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Read our news story about how the Local Care Record is helping to join up patient care
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Read an in-depth feature about the Local Care Record on the digitalhealth.net website
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From conception to implementation - discover the Local Care Record journey
Local Care Record in the news
> King’s Health Partners Local Care Record set to expand into a London Care Record (February 2021)
> Local Care Record extends into adult care (November 2019)
> Sharing care records goes live across south east London (5 March 2018)
> Sharing care records across south east London (15 December 2017)
> Local Care Record to extend into Bromley (20 October 2016)
> Local Care Record wins EHI Award for ‘Best use of IT to support integrated healthcare services.’ (29 September 2016)