Universal Care Plan sees 24,000 new care plans since launch

A year on from the launch of the Universal Care Plan across London, and over 24,000 new care plans have been created on the platform, helping people to access better personalised care and support.

The Universal Care Plan is a dynamic integrated care planning solution, that ensures everyone living in the capital can have their key health and social care information, support network and wishes for their care digitally shared with London healthcare professionals.

The tool enables critical patient choice information to be captured digitally and shared appropriately for urgent and end-of-life pathways.

Before the Universal Care Plan was in place, care plans were not consistently connected or accessible between different care providers.

London’s Universal Care Plan took just seven months to deploy. The technology was implemented by OneLondon and provided by Better. It now supports five integrated care systems (ICSs), more than 40 NHS trusts, 1,400 general practices and 33 local authorities.

Gary McAllister, chief technology officer and national executive director for technology strategy, architecture and standards at NHS England and OneLondon, said: “Just in its first year the Universal Care Plan has already made a huge positive difference to the lives of so many people in the capital.

“It really showcases how technology can transform healthcare for the benefit of the public and I am excited at how OneLondon and Better will develop this further over the years ahead.”

Since its creation, more than 24,000 new care plans have been created, while health professionals have viewed care plans over 300,000 times. The system is widely used thanks to integrations with key systems used by London care providers, including the London Care Record, EMIS, SystmOne, Cleric ePCR and Adastra.

It is also set to integrate soon with Epic, Rio and Cerner Millennium.

Alastair Allen, chief technology officer at Better, said: “The new shared care planning technology, underpinned by open health data and supported by low-code tools, marks a significant milestone in transforming London’s digital care planning services. By standardising the way information is captured and providing end users with data modelling tools, we have unlocked the ability for health and care organisations to build dynamic care planning applications and share data in real-time across the capital.”

As well as further integrations, there are plans to expand the use of the Universal Care Plan to other areas of care too, including patients with diabetes, dementia and cardiovascular disease.

It will also integrate with the NHS App later this year, so that patients can access their care plans and link with their GP’s data system.

In addition, work is underway to launch the platform within the National Record Locator, enabling Londoners’ preferences and wishes to be made accessible to urgent care services anywhere in England.

Joseph Fraser, head of personalised care expansion in London at NHS England, said: “The Universal Care Plan has the potential to fundamentally change the way that treatment and care is delivered in the NHS. It will stop patients having to repeat their story for every clinician they see, but its impact is far greater than that.

“For the first time, patients will find that every clinician they see knows who they are, how they want to live their lives, how they can help, and what other support might be needed.

“This is an opportunity to move away from a narrow acute clinical model that treats one condition at a time, to a holistic approach that acknowledges the complexity of people’s lives and addresses those challenges in partnership.”