The Evening Times ran an article about figures in a new report showing that women from Lanarkshire experience higher-than-average rates of stillbirth and neonatal deaths than other parts of Scotland. The region recorded the second-highest rate in Scotland with 6.42 deaths per 1,000 births. However it is worth noting that the figure of 7,096 Lanarkshire resident […]
Improvements in patient information system
NHS LANARKSHIRE is expanding its patient information system to give key authorised clinical staff access to a summary of a patient’s GP record.
The expanded system will give the authorised hospital and A&E clinical staff and, in some cases, community nursing and out-of-hours staff, access to key information allowing these staff to make better informed decisions about a patient’s treatment requirements.
The improved access will ensure a patient’s most recent information is available at the time of a hospital appointment or in an emergency situation.
Dr Bruce Thomson, chair of the group overseeing the expansion, said: “Sometimes patients do not always know what medicines they are taking or they may be too ill to give details.
“By having access to this information, clinical staff will be able to give better and safer advice and care.”
This was echoed by Dr Bill Martin, who added: “The summary will not include highly sensitive personal, medical and lifestyle information, and any patient concerned about the summary is entitled to opt-out.”
Dr Tyra Smyth, Secretary of the Lanarkshire Local Medical Committee (LMC), said: “This system has already been successfully introduced in NHS Tayside.
“Staff allowed to access the summary will be strictly controlled to only those involved in a particular patient’s care.”
The expanded GP summary will go live over the coming period. Information informing patients of the expansion will be available in all GP practices.
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