SUPPORT-SYSTEMS (82) The development of task sharing policy and guidelines in Kenya (3)

9 August, 2022

Task sharing tools and knowledge can also be shared with patients, families

and communities. This is happening through patient portals in many countries. Task sharing is not abdication of responsibility which would be an infringement of professional responsibility but a sharing and delegation of tasks. This works through a successful registered clinical relationship supported by governments. Citizens need encouragement to regard their own and their dependants' clinical data. They need education and encouragement to change their roles from that of passive recipient of health care (or no receipt of health care when none is available!) to active agents of health, health and social care during their lives - reproductive health, childbirth, infancy, childhood, adolescence, reproductive health, mental health, and health within the 20 or so ICD categories- ICD-10-CM Chapters List (https://icd.codes/icd10cm). We used a pictorial representation of these categories for patients as pictures are universally understood - in any language. We offered this patient fronted portal to the NHS in 2004.

When medical record entries are coded they are automatically put into these ICD categories (in any language). It was and is a simple ask tlink the codes to coded suitable explanatory and quality assured information.

"Culture eats technology" and there are historic cultural barriers to sharing patient data with patients. There are also cultural barriers to sharing clinical knowledge and skills with patients and these are changing with communication mobile and IT developments. These were described during the 2000 to 2001 NHS Information Authority study which I can share with any interested parties:

2001 - Culture and Change at The Hadfield Medical Centre - Samina Munir Salford Health Informatics Research Environment (Shire) University of Salford and Dr. Ruth Boaden Manchester School of Management University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

This report was commissioned as part of the ERDIP Patient Held Records, Modernisation Enabling Project [1] at Hadfield Medical Centre (HMC), in order to document and analyse the background to the organisation and its culture prior to its involvement in the current project. This report endeavours to explain the practice’s activities with respect to patient involvement, patient access to their records, and health information relative to the NHS Plan. This is achieved by examining the process of organisational change, the organisational structure, and the culture and leadership of the HMC. The report draws on empirical evidence from a variety of sources related to HMC as well as a range of theoretical models which are used to present the data.

[1] http://www.nhsia.nhs.uk/erdip/

HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP, British Medical Association. Professional interests: Health literacy, patient partnership of trust and implementation of healthcare with professionals, family and public involvement in the prevention of modern lifestyle diseases, patients using access to professional records to overcome confidentiality barriers to care, patients as part of the policing of the use of their patient data. Email address: richardpeterfitton7 AT gmail.com