Records Access & 'The Big Picture'

Well the Christmas & New Year 'disturbance' is over - and life in the land of General Practice returns to normal (chaos) - amid the wind and rain, heated public debates over health, and ongoing economic gloom.

And will 'Records Access' solve the dilemma for the NHS of increasing demand, tighter financial limits and ever closer scrutiny? Probably not.... No DEFINITELY NOT.

So where does it 'fit in' to future healthcare evolution? Well there are interesting debates going on in many circles, and perhaps that is in itself a sign of change to come, a willingness to consider a more mature and interactive relationship, utilising new media and information sharing opportunities. And as ever there will be polarised views, those who resist 'risky and unsound change without an overwhelming evidence base', and on the opposite side the evangelists who find it hard to understand and sympathise with an often conservative profession that has real concerns about the risks and implications of radical change. So in the middle ground sit the majority of practices, interested to learn more at their own pace, nervous that they have no spare capacity for new 'innovations', and uncertain when and how to proceed and how access fits into the big picture of health and social care.

On top of the list of questions seems to be 'will Records Access' deliver benefits? And here the answer may at the moment be 'not on its own'.
So if not in isolation - what role may it play and why should we consider it?

Well the evidence so far in the UK and Internationally seems to suggest to me it may have an important role to play when combined with actions, transactions and communication. With the record, if we just 'look at it' little changes, the lesson of digital expansion and the internet is that the ability to 'do things' could radically move the agenda forward. GPs have learnt this lesson painfully over 25 years, moving from paper to electronic records - the exciting bits are when we 'do thing's with records - exchange information, audit, decision support and many other 'digitally enabled' functions. So perhaps I should worry less about 'Records Access' as a subject or target and start to think about the opportunities for efficiency and innovation, how this first step enables self-care, healthy choice awareness and to have the data to populate their own 'healthcare management' system and do other thing beyond my current experience and imagination.

So as I work to stimulate interest from selected patients in my surgery I do so with a realistic expectation that 'Records Access' is not my goal, but more likely to be a step in the right direction to patients taking back some of the burden, responsibility and interest in their own health, and in doing so to help me look after them better.

It's good to have ambition!

Peter Short (glass-half-full)