1,000 patients sign up to access their medical data

Campaigning GP, Dr Amir Hannan’s been in touch to let me know how the pioneering project to put patients in control of their medical records is progressing.

As I’ve blogged before, Dr Hannan has been working since 2006 towards an online patient system in a bid to build trust between the doctor and patient.

Now, Haughton Thornley Medical Centres (HTMC) in the north west has reached a landmark of 1,000 patients who can manage their own records through a secure web portal.

Dr Forida Abdullah, a partner who recently joined the practice explained in the press release how it was working: “As with anything that’s worth doing, once patients obtain online access to their medical records they realise that a little bit of effort reaps many rewards.

“This means that patients are able to benefit from up-to-date information and advice, take ownership of their own healthcare and be involved in the way medicine moves forward”. As Yvonne Bennett, a patient at the practice says ‘It helps to build a partnership of trust’ between patient and health care worker”.

Registered patients can log in their own home, work or anywhere with an internet connection, to manage their records by:
* Requesting appointments.
* Requesting repeat prescriptions.
* Accessing test results.
* Viewing previous GP consultation notes, as well as any correspondence between hospital consultants and the GP.

Currently there are around 50 practices in the country offering patients access to records in this way.

Proposals to make patient’s care records routinely available to them were recently part of a public consultation on the Government white paper Liberating the NHS: An Information Revolution.

Hannan said he hoped more GP surgeries could benefit from the experience: “”Passing this landmark of 1000 patients accessing their records is a special moment and I want to thank all those who have contributed to making it happen, in particular our very special patients and staff – many of whom have travelled the length and breadth of the country with me to share their own experiences with others – this has been a four year journey so far and we hope to be able to pass on what we have learned wherever we can.”

There’s more information about the project online here.