From their website, several of the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt’s quotes;
Powerful patients need to know about the quality of healthcare being provided, but they also need to be able to harness the many innovations now becoming possible.
To most of us it feels like there has been more change in the way we book taxis, shop, bank or store photos than the way we access healthcare. Yet for every single one of us healthcare is more important than all of those things.
Experience from other countries suggests that opening up access to your own medical record leads to a profound change in culture in a way that is transformative for people with complex or long term conditions.
I also want patients not just to be able to read their medical record on their smartphone but to add to it, whether by recording their own comments or by plugging in their own wearable devices to it.
In addition, by the end of 2018 all doctors and nurses will be able to access the most up-to-date lifesaving information across GP surgeries, ambulance services and A&E departments, no matter where a patient is in England. By 2020 this will include the social care system as well.
As the internet drives forward the next wave of innovation, all over the world healthcare still seems to be at the back of the queue.
We will only really be putting patients first if we can give them confidence that every part of the system knows their care plan, is up to date with their progress and doesn’t need them to repeat their story time after time.
We no longer have to carry round our cheque books or boarding passes, and we shouldn’t accept any less when it comes to our health.
As the use of technology increases, so does the need to reassure the public that their personal medical data is being held securely.
Exciting though this all is, we will throw away these opportunities if the public do not believe they can trust us to look after their personal medical data securely.
The NHS has not yet won the public’s trust in an area that is vital for the future of patient care.
Nothing matters more to us than our health, and people rightly say we must be able to assure the security of confidential medical information.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/health-secretary-outlines-vision-for-use-of-technology-across-nhs
