The NHS 10-Year Plan is set to transform care but will it get the basics right? Getting some kinds of care can be stressful, with long waits for hospital care, NHS dental care, and assessments for mental health support. But navigating inefficient administrative processes is also frustrating and impacts care for many. It’s important that, whatever the changes the government eventually proposes, the NHS prioritises people over process.
People want an NHS that’s easy to use. This means an NHS where patients can focus on doing what’s best for them and living as healthily as possible. They shouldn’t have to worry that their care team doesn’t have a clear picture of their medical history or that decisions about their care are being made based on out-of-date or inaccurate information.
At Healthwatch England, we recently published new evidence on the scope of inaccuracies in NHS patient records and how incorrect or missing information stops people from accessing prompt and comprehensive help when needed.
Poor administration could affect the quality of care many people receive. Nearly one in four people (23%) told us they’ve noticed inaccuracies in their NHS records. These discrepancies range from incorrect personal details to missing information about diagnoses and treatments.
When services don’t keep good records, it can just be an inconvenience. But sometimes, these errors can have more profound impacts, such as receiving incorrect medication or missing or being denied treatment. There are impacts beyond immediate care, too, like inaccurate information being used in legal, insurance and benefit claims, or as part of background checks for people looking to adopt children or serve in the armed forces. In rare cases, incorrect information contributes to fatal outcomes, according to warnings from coroners that were covered in the media last year.
It is unacceptable for a person to miss out on care or receive care that’s not appropriate because records are not accurate. People are frustrated when these errors prevent or delay them from getting the help they need.
In many cases, these issues could be avoided. Solutions range from more training for administrative staff to reminding clinicians of professional obligations to maintain good record keeping and practices to avoid errors creeping in. Better promotion of people’s rights could also help by explaining to the public how they can request factual errors to be corrected and why certain clinical information or judgements will need to be retained in records, even if they disagree with them.
Other solutions will take more time and be more complex, such as the introduction of a new single patient record, which could help improve sharing of patients’ information between services and reduce the number of times patients are asked to repeat their stories to different health professionals. A new single record could also better empower patients by allowing them to directly add certain information or upload readings from smartwatches and other devices and enable more real-time and two-way conversations between patients and professionals. Let’s be ambitious about care – and get the basics right too.
