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Shared Care Record

In mid and south Essex, we’re improving the way your health and care information is managed to ensure you get the best and safest care possible. The Shared Care Record is a new digital tool that brings together key information from the separate care records held by local health and social care organisations. It presents this information in a structured and easy-to-read format.

What does the Shared Care Record do?

The Shared Care Record is expected to:

  • Enable safer treatment with instant access to essential data.
  • Support emergency response with more complete medical histories. 
  • Enhance person-centred care by reducing repeated history taking.
  • Facilitate more informed, timely decisions with 24/7 data access.
  • Save time and reduce administrative burden.
  • Ensure care continuity as people move between health and social care services.​

How this benefits you

Having records located in different places can lead to delays and create challenges. With the Shared Care Record, doctors, nurses paramedics, social workers, and other approved professionals will have secure access to crucial information about you, such as allergies or medications. This not only helps you receive timely treatments but can also be lifesaving in emergencies.

The Shared Care Record also helps us to deliver more tailored care. Instead of having to repeat your health story every time you see a different professional, they’ll already have access to a lot of this information. This holistic approach helps deliver more personalised care and can ease transitions between NHS and social care services.

It’s not just about better, safer care – it’s also about efficiency. Instead of wasting time hunting for bits of information, health and care professionals will have what they need at their fingertips. This will speed up decisions and ensure you get the care you need faster.

If you have received care from any of the participating local health and social care organisations, your information may be included in the Shared Care Record.

Local health and social care organisations involved in the Shared Care Record are:

The Shared Care Record provides access to certain information, not your entire health and social care record. It will include details such as:

  • Clinical notes
  • Current health conditions
  • Medication details
  • Diagnostic results
  • Treatment histories
  • Care and support plans
  • Allergies
  • Appointment information
  • Discharge letters

You can see a data visibility guide that shows what information is being shared by each organisation on this page.

Your information in the Shared Care Record will only ever be used by health and care professionals when providing care for you. It will never be shared with private companies or used for research.

Access is strictly governed by role-based permissions, ensuring that each professional’s access is determined by their role and responsibilities. For example, a doctor may have full access to your the information in your record, while an administrator will typically have a more limited view.

We ensure strict confidentiality by verifying that a legitimate relationship exists between you and the health and care professional accessing your record. This guarantees that only those directly involved in your care can view your information.

The following measures help us to ensure that your privacy is protected and that your information is used responsibly and securely:

  • Data encryption: All information within the Shared Care Record is encrypted during transfer and storage, providing an additional layer of security to protect your personal health information.
  • Audit trails: Every time you information is accessed in the Shared Care Record it is logged. Audit trails are maintained to track who accessed your information, what information was accessed, and when it was accessed. This helps ensure accountability and transparency.
  • Data minimisation: Only the necessary information required for your care is shared. This principle helps limit the exposure of your personal health and care data.
  • Compliance with regulations: The Shared Care Record complies with all relevant data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that your data is handled in accordance with the highest standards of privacy and security.

We prioritise the clinical safety of our digital systems. Our Clinical Safety Officer works closely with each partner organisation to identify, manage, and minimise any clinical risks. This helps to prevent any issues related to outdated, incorrect, or incomplete data, ensuring that health and social care professionals can trust the Shared Care Record for safe and effective care.

To guarantee the security and reliability of the system, we conduct rigorous testing and employ robust procedures for regular data verification, updates, and cross-checks. These stringent measures ensure that your health information remains accurate and up to date.

Accurate and up-to-date information is crucial for health and social care professionals to make well-informed decisions about your care. With the Shared Care Record, these professionals will have immediate access to the essential information they need, improving both the safety and effectiveness of your treatment. This reliable access to information is especially critical in emergency situations, where quick and informed decision-making can significantly impact outcomes.

The Shared Care Record is designed with robust security measures to protect your health and social care information. We use industry-standard network connections to ensure secure data transfer between the Shared Care Record and the IT systems of health and social care organisations in mid and south Essex. These connections maintain the integrity and confidentiality of your information.

Some information is stored securely in the Orion Health Shared Care Record system. This operates on dedicated infrastructure that meets international standards for processing and storing protected health and care information. This ensures your data is handled securely and in compliance with stringent regulations.

You have the right to object to your record being shared between services. To do this, you will need to speak to the person delivering your care at each organisation, such as your GP, specialist, or social worker. However, please consider the following before you object:

  • It is important to understand that not allowing access to your information could affect the quality of the care you receive.
  • Only health and social care professionals involved in your care are allowed to access your information. These people are viewing your record to give you the best quality care they can.
  • In many situations it is necessary to share information between services to deliver care. However, it may be possible to request that specific or sensitive information is not made available.

There may be circumstances where your objection may not be upheld. For example:

  • If it is in the public interest for information to still be shared. For example, if there is a safeguarding issue, or in the case of an individual who might be at risk from harming themselves or a member of the public.
  • If clinical care cannot be provided, for example, GPs providing additional routine appointments at the weekend need access to your GP record to provide you with safe effective care. In this instance, you may choose not to have the appointment. 
  • Some computer systems may not be advanced enough to restrict the sharing of information. However, this information remains confidential amongst the team of people that are directly caring for you.

If you have any worries or questions regarding your information, please speak directly to the organisation from which you receive care. They will be able to provide you with detailed information, address your concerns, and guide you through any issues you may be experiencing.

You can find their contact information on their website:

Find out how to access the Shared Care Record via EPUT:

Accessing the Shared Care Record via EPUT Care Portal Single Sign On

Essex Partnership University Trust document sharing details for Shared Care Record:

Shared Care Record document sharing details

Find out more about our digital and technology work:

Digital, data and technology