Pa

atient rec
cord acc
cess: turn
ning it on, sharin
ng the lea
arning:
learning frrom the project
p
Ke
ey findings

For som
me patients, access to re
ecords can improve the GP service , support

relationsship change
e and help th
hem to feel more
m
in conttrol of their hhealth.
For rela
ationship cha
ange to take
e place, reco
ords access needs to bee embedded
d across
all areass of the prac
ctice, from G
GP consultattion to back--office adminnistration. The
T
online system
s
need
ds to work w
well and be easy
e
for patie
ents and praactices to us
se.

Most of the patients

s that the pro
oject team in
nterviewed signed
s
up beecause they
y had a
general interest in seeing
s
their records.

Clinician
ns are conce
erned that o
online record
ds access will add to theeir workload.
Effective
e engageme
ent is criticall to addressing these co
oncerns andd helping clin
nicians

to understand the benefits

b
that it can bring to some patients.
Practice
es should foc
cus on qualiity rather tha
an quantity to
t achieve reelationship change
c
through records acc
cess the e
emphasis sh
hould be on people
p
activvely using the
system, rather than on having a large number of patien
nts signed uup but not us
sing it.

Su
uccesses

Improve
ed relations
ships: For a small number of patients, having rreal-time ele
ectronic
access to their med
dical recordss had a very positive effe
ect on their relationship
p with
their GP
P and their ability
a
to man
nage their own health. One
O patient commented
d: 'It
gives me
m the steerin
ng wheel wh
hen it comes
s to managin
ng my own hhealthcare
the
amount of time I ha
ave to spend
d when I do see
s medical professionaals, that time
e, Ive
already pre-informe
ed myself so
o I can speak
k to them on
n a level andd we can get
further.'

Sharing
g good prac
ctice: The p
project team developed the My recoord website to
t give
patientss information
n about acce
essing their medical records online, ahead of th
he 2015
deadline
e for everyone to have tthe opportun
nity to do this. The webssite includes
s patient
videos, personal sto
ories, projecct summaries and resources for pattients, practices and
the NHS
S.

Challenges

Technical difficulties: The project was affected by significant technical problems

with the online records system, which meant that a large amount of time and effort
was spent on helping practices and patients to use the system, rather than focusing
on the outcomes of use. While the team was able to improve the guidance they
provided to users and share ways to work around problems, they could not change

the design and delivery of the system itself.

Time pressures: Primary care clinicians face enormous time pressures and some
were reluctant to add to their workload by engaging with records access, which was
seen as a non-essential task. The government has since announced plans for all
patients to be able to access their medical records online by the end of 2015, so it will
become an essential task.

Advice to others
The teams main piece of advice to anyone undertaking a similar project, or any IT project,
is to make sure that the technology works well and is easy for people to use. The system
needs to be fully tested and functional before being rolled out for public use.
They also stress the importance of engaging clinicians and other staff from the beginning,
spending time listening to their concerns and working with them to find an approach that
everyone feels comfortable with.