Having been a part of its development for over three decades, it is both satisfying and exciting to see this UK government information leaflet Health Bill: single patient record - fact sheet - GOV.UK about the Single patient record. The Single Patient Record will still need a few more years to be "complete" but heralds a new age of digital cross sector and patient facing digital care and care records ín England . I have extracted parts of the fact sheet:
"Too often, patients experience care which is not joined up, having to tell their story time and time again when they meet a new clinician. This is not just an inconvenience: it puts patient safety at risk. When clinicians do not have all the relevant facts available, they cannot make the best decisions, and patients lose out.
"A lack of joined up care records also means that there are missed opportunities to diagnose and treat people early. Too many patients are left seeking urgent care once their health has deteriorated. But we should be able to spot problems and intervene early. This is better for patients’ health and better value for money. This is not possible without joined up information and a single version of the truth. The lack of a single, accurate source of information, accessible by patients themselves, is causing harm.
"We are determined to give people more control over their lives. A health and care system that revolves around patients, rather than patients revolving around them. The Health Bill (‘the bill’) will provide the framework that will enable patients’ health and social care records to be brought together in one place. This document explains how the bill will, alongside other key issues such as the development of a technical solution, enable the creation of the single patient record.
"Right now, health and care information is fragmented. Different parts of the country have different systems, different levels of data sharing and different capabilities. The result is that healthcare professionals are regularly working with incomplete pictures of their patients, and patients are left to fill in the gaps, often repeating their medical history to clinician after clinician, sometimes at the most stressful moments of their lives.
"Fixing the Foundations (PDF, 485KB), published by Age UK in 2023, highlighted the issues with continuity of care for older people. The 2025 report Saving Lives, Improving Mothers’ Care (PDF, 2.9MB) into 611 women who died during pregnancy, or in the year after, found that fragmented care and limited communication between providers meant critical information was often not shared. This was a significant factor in nearly half of the deaths. For more than a decade, patient groups and organisations across the country have been calling for exactly the kind of change the single patient record is expected to deliver. As far back as 2013, National Voices captured it simply and powerfully - ‘I would like to tell my story once.’
"The single patient record will bring together a person’s health and social care information in one secure, accessible place for the first time. It will mean that wherever a patient is treated - whether at their local GP practice, a hospital across the country or a specialist service - the clinicians caring for them will have access to the same complete, accurate record.
"For patients, this means no more repeating your story. For clinicians, it means being able to deliver safer, quicker and more accurate care, without juggling multiple systems or working with missing information. For the NHS, it means greater efficiency and fewer costly mistakes.
"The bill provides the legislative framework for the single patient record. This will support a level playing field across the country, so that everyone has access to the same information.
"The bill will enable the Secretary of State of Health and Social Care to specify in regulations:
· who can and who must share data with the single patient record, for example different providers of care
· who can see the data, such as the relevant professionals delivering health and social care and those providing essential support, as well as patients being able to see their own record
· how the system will be enforced
"The single patient record will transform people’s experience of care. At long last people will have mobile access to a full summary of their health record through the NHS App or online, empowering them to:
· take greater control of their health and care
· be able to discuss this additional knowledge with a professional
· be able to engage with their health record
· identify any corrections needed and request amendments
· over time, feed into the record
"By having access to the single patient record, patients are also expected to benefit from:
· improved outcomes from care delivered by professionals who have all the essential information
· less repetition of medical history
· easier access to their information
"For health professionals
Healthcare professionals in primary and secondary care currently navigate multiple systems, with sometimes incomplete or inconsistent information. Information must often be transferred manually between care settings. Providers lack a complete, real-time view of patient information across regions and care settings, making it harder to deliver joined-up care. Shared care records have demonstrated what can be achieved, but have not provided a uniform, comprehensive single record across the country.
"For improving and advancing care
"Patient data is vital to help plan, commission and run NHS and social care services safely, effectively and efficiently, ensuring people get the right care at the right time in the right place.
"By March 2027, clinicians in England will benefit from improved access to records for at least 80% of patients through the connection of existing shared care records. Our ambition is that from 2028, all patients in England will have access to a core set of their data through the single patient record, viewable securely through the NHS App. Some people’s records will have access to the additional data relevant to the maternity and frailty pathways, and over the next 2 years, additional pathways such as cancer and mental health will be released into the single patient record and rolled out across the country. The goal is that by 2030, the whole population of England will have access to the full range of data through the single patient record.
"The following case studies are based on scenarios identified by health and care professionals.
"Maternity
Leila is a 27-year-old, first time mother who has developed gestational diabetes. She is South Asian, living in Morecambe Bay with her husband. Leila has a history of anxiety which can sometimes lead to panic attacks. English is not Leila’s first language and she relies on her husband to translate for her, but he is not always around due to work. She has more appointments than normal and has to keep track of them all.
The single patient record will meet Leila’s need for joined up care and reduce the burden on her.
I want all my health information - from my past medical history to my current blood glucose readings for gestational diabetes - to be accessible to every healthcare professional involved in my care, so I don’t have to keep repeating myself.
I want an easy experience of care, where my GP, midwife, consultant, and any other specialists are all working from the same up‑to‑date information, understanding my mental health history, giving me consistent advice, and sticking to what I want from my birthing plan.
I want my health information to be readily available to clinicians so my husband can then focus on supporting me and being actively involved, rather than spending time relaying my medical history.
"Frailty
Harold is an 80‑year‑old widower who’s spent his life rooted in his community, doing his best to stay independent while quietly worrying about how long he can manage on his own.
Nick, Harold’s son, struggles to access important information like appointment letters and medical updates when they’re only sent to Harold, leaving him out of the loop. He often has to repeat Harold’s history to different services because information is not shared consistently across teams.
Dr Janice, community geriatrician, struggles with fragmented information across systems, which makes it difficult to form a complete clinical picture and slows timely, confident decision‑making.
The single patient record will meet the need for Harold and his family to more effectively manage his information, and for his doctor to have all the information she needs to care for him.
I want every professional who involved in my care to understand my needs and history so I don’t have to repeat myself and I can get safer, more coordinated care.
I want my son to be able to see my up-to-date health and care information so he can support me with my care and appointments.
I want Dr Janice to be able to see the whole picture of my health and care so she can make early decisions that can help me to keep independent."
HIFA profile: Richard Fitton is a retired family doctor - GP. 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