Patients view their GP records at home over web

Two patients from a Derbyshire practice have viewed their GP records over the internet from home as part of a trial the practice hopes to extend to 1000 patients over the next 18 months.

The trailblazing project is being run at Hadfield Medical Centre in Derbyshire by GP, Dr Richard Fitton, a pioneer of patient access to records.

Dr Fitton, a former member of Connecting for Health’s Care Record Development Board, said two patients who are also staff members at the practice saw and checked their GP record in the surgery, then viewed the record over the practice intranet and finally were able to view their record from home over the internet last week using a secure log-on system.

Dr Fitton told EHI Primary Care: “We are absolutely delighted with it and the patients who have done it think it’s fantastic. They get an excellent view of their whole GP record with extra information so that, for example, if your record includes the word angina, a screen comes up explaining all about what angina means.’

The project is being run together with GP system supplier EMIS and PAERS (Patient access to Electronic Records System), a GP-run company which provides access to electronic patient records via kiosks in the surgery. Dr Fitton said the practice also planned to involve iSoft very soon as Hadfield Medical Centre has merged with a practice using iSoft’s Synergy software.

Linzy Hannigan, a receptionist at Hadfield Medical Centre, was one of the first two patients to view her record from home. She told EHI Primary Care: “I found it very informative and really enjoyed it to be honest. It’s good to see, for example, what exactly the consultant has said in a letter and it’s much better to be able to look at it at your leisure at home rather than sitting in the surgery where you might feel under pressure of time.”

Hannigan said she had no worries about the security and confidentiality of her data and felt confident in the password protected system that was in place.

Dr Fitton said he also had no worries about the security aspects and believes that by putting control of the record in patients’ hands many of the existing concerns over who should see the record and when would be overcome. He added: “I think I have a duty of care to share records with my patients if they wish to do it and all the evidence shows that people who get involved with their health care and disease management do much better.”

However he warned that it would be impractical to go through the whole GP record with every patient before making it more widely available since it could take between 30 and 90 minutes per patient. The time involved in ‘opting in’ patients to record sharing is one of the arguments against an opt-in model used by those proposing that the NHS Care Records Service should work on a qualified opt-out system.

The practice is also involved with a project in Tameside and Glossop to trial record sharing for patients who fall into particularly sensitive groups such as those with alcohol problems, in nursing homes and with a terminal illness. Patients who are interested in sharing their record will be invited to see their GP to discuss it first.

Dr Fitton added: “Just like with internet banking a lot of people want to do it and a lot of people don’t but you have to offer it to those who are interested.”