Patients set to access new entries in TPP and EMIS health records

From next month, patients will be able to access all new entries in their online health records, if their GP practice use TPP or EMIS IT systems.

According to NHS Digital, patients who use online accounts – such as the NHS App – and whose surgery uses TPP, will be able to view entries from December 2021 onwards. While, patients on an EMIS system should expect to see theirs from ‘early 2022’. Practices which use the Vision system are still currently in discussions over access.

NHS Digital says that patients will not be able to see specific personal information, such as positive test results, until they have been ‘checked and filed’, so that GPs have the opportunity to contact them first. The body adds that the move, ‘supports NHS Long Term Plan commitments to provide patients with digital access to their health records’, and also shares its aim for patients to be able to request their historic coded records from 2022, through the NHS App.

As ’80 per cent of the 18 million NHS App users’ are said to want ‘easy access to their health records and personal information’, it’s hoped that the initiative will reduce queries around negative test results and referrals, and encourage patient awareness and empowerment in regards to their health.

However, NHS Digital does advise General Practice staff to ‘be aware that patients will be able to see their future records’, and to ensure ‘sensitive information is redacted as it is entered’ into systems, with a support package and training sessions available to guide clinicians and staff in these areas.

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Source: Health Tech Newspaper, 5 November 2021