Public asked for views on HealthSpace

Patients are being invited to give their views on the future development of the Department of Health’s personal health record project, HealthSpace.

An online survey asks patients to give their views on what functionality they would find useful and how often they would be likely to use such features.

The survey follows moves to shelve the planned expansion of HealthSpace, as revealed by EHI Primary Care last month.

An £80m plus business case had been prepared by NHS Connecting for Health, outlining plans to make HealthSpace a hub for transactional services.

Under the plan, patients would have been able to book nurse or GP appointments, manage long-term conditions, order repeat prescriptions or medication reviews and complete pre-registration assessments online.

However, the business case appears to have been kicked into the long grass by the DH and not submitted to the Treasury as originally envisaged.

Now, the survey is seeking patient views on these services. It asks patients to pick their top five features and to log how frequently they would be likely to user them.

It also asks patients what steps they would be prepared to take to register for enhanced functionality, including completing processes online or face to face at a GP surgery.

The survey has been emailed by health helpline NHS Direct to more than 11,000 patients and is available on a variety of health-related websites including NHS Choices, Age Concern, SAGA and National Voices, the umbrella group for national voluntary organisations representing users of health and social care in England.

The current HealthSpace functionality means anyone over age 16 can register for a HealthSpace account.

This enables them to log and monitor their personal health information, provides a search system for local NHS information and access to the Choose and Book online booking service.

Dr Gillian Braunold, clinical director for the Summary Care Record and HealthSpace, said: “By using HealthSpace patients can make sure they are able to exchange knowledge with those providing their care.

"In pilot sites, HealthSpace is enabling citizens to have access to their Summary Care Record and through the Communicator function have secure communication with NHS staff caring for them. Ultimately HealthSpace is all about putting patients in control of their health."

The survey is available until 17 July and CfH said the results would be analysed to help determine the future direction of the HealthSpace service.