Moving one step closer to a single patient record
From next year, professionals working in different parts of the NHS or social care should have a ‘bird’s eye view’ of people’s healthcare record at their fingertips.
This is part of the new Health Bill announced in May. The Government cited our evidence on the importance of a single patient record as part of the reason to introduce this.
A single patient record will help healthcare professionals know in real time which professional someone last saw, their latest test results, details of recent A&E visits or hospital stays, and any plans for their ongoing care.
How did feedback lead to change?
Since our launch, people have told us stories about fragmented records across different services.
This led to problems like people not starting vital medication on time, and professionals duplicating diagnostic tests because they couldn’t see what previous doctors had arranged.
People also told us about the burden of being an information carrier between different professionals.
People gaining access to their summary GP record via the NHS App in 2023 revealed more evidence about medical record inaccuracies or missing information. Our national polling in 2025 found:
- 23% of adults had found inaccuracies or missing information in their NHS records
- 26% had to repeatedly explain their medical history
- 20% struggled to convince healthcare professionals about their medical history
We’ve shared people’s feedback with key decision-makers. This includes calling for better progress on joined-up records in evidence to a parliamentary committee, and recommending the Government focus on “getting the basics right” in its forthcoming 10 Year Health Plan.
This helped lead to the 10 Year Plan confirming last July that it would “give patients real control over a single, secure and authoritative account of their data. The single patient record will enable more co-ordinated, personalised and predictive care”.
If passed, the draft legislation introduced in May will give ministers power to require different services to share patient data with each other. The impact assessment stated that our survey last year revealed the scale of medical record inaccuracies and that the single patient record will give patients more oversight of the accuracy of information held about them.
What needs to happen next?
Parliamentarians will debate the proposed single patient record and decide how to ensure the changes command public confidence and trust. This should include addressing questions around transparency about which professionals can access the single record and for what purpose, and protection of private data.
Healthwatch England sits on a national independent ‘check and challenge group’. We’ll continue to provide constructive feedback to NHS leaders and Government about getting record changes right for patients.
