NHS Digital Information Standard: Medicine and allergy/intolerance data transfer (28 October 2021)

Summary

A new Information Standard has been published by NHS Digital to support improved medication and allergy/intolerance information sharing across healthcare services in England.

Content

The new Information Standard will standardise medication message content, enabling transfer of prescription information across health and care settings in England to help reduce medicines related errors and improve patient safety. 

The Standard will enable medicines information to be more efficiently shared between NHS and social care organisations, including primary and secondary care – from hospitals and GP practices to residential care homes, mental health trusts, and pharmacies. It will be particularly beneficial in reducing medication errors when patients transfer between care locations. 

As well as providing clinicians with a more detailed and consistent source of medicines related information across all care settings, the Standard will also enable healthcare professionals to obtain medicines information in a quicker, more efficient manner, saving valuable time and improving patient care.