NHS looks to 'digital health records' as Streeting launches major consultation on future of healthcare

21 October 2024, 00:00

NHS patients will be able to get their health records made available to any doctor as part of a 'health passport', reports claim as Labour launches a consultation on how to fix healthcare in Britain.

Ministers are set to change laws to allow an easy-access health record to be available to NHS workers and patients through the service's app.

Labour hopes that the changes will help NHS clinicians work faster and help patients understand their own health better as it sets out to fix issues in the health service.

The plans, reported by The Times and The Guardian, come as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer launches a new consultation of patients and staff with the NHS.

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The consultation will help inform the NHS 10-year plan - Labour's flagship strategy to improve the ailing healthcare system.

Billed as "the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS since its birth", members of the public will be able to share their views online via change.NHS.uk until the start of next year.

The Government plans to transform the NHS into a "neighbourhood health service", shifting more care from hospitals to communities.

The plan, expected to be published in spring 2025, will also see greater use of data and technology, with easier sharing of patient data, saving an estimated 140,000 hours of staff time every year.

Announcing the consultation, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: "My mum worked for the NHS, my sister worked for the NHS, and my wife still works for the NHS - so I know first-hand how difficult it has been for staff, and for patients battling against a broken system for over a decade. But it's time to roll up our sleeves and fix it.

"We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it's only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it.

"Together we can build a healthcare system that puts patients first and delivers the care that everyone deserves.

"We have a huge opportunity to put the NHS back on its feet. So let's be the generation that took the NHS from the worst crisis in its history and made it fit for the future."

Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged the public to "help us build a health service fit for the future", saying he wants NHS staff and patients to have their "fingerprints all over" the 10-year plan.

He said: "When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the NHS saved my life, as it has for so many people across our country. We all owe the NHS a debt of gratitude for a moment in our lives when it was there for us, when we needed it. Now we have a chance to repay that debt.

"Today the NHS is going through the worst crisis in its history. But, while the NHS is broken, it's not beaten. Together, we can fix it."

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said it was "vital" that the service "innovates and adapts" as it faces "an unprecedented number of challenges".

She said: "The 10 Year Health Plan is a chance to make the best practice, normal practice across the country.

"So, we will be carrying out the largest ever staff engagement exercise in NHS history and leaving no stone unturned as we seek to harness frontline views, alongside those of patients and the public, to ensure this happens.

"It is your experiences - good, bad, and sometimes frustrating - that we need to help shape this once in a generation opportunity, so please get involved."

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey urged the Government to show "ambition" in its plans, or risk the consultation "becoming a talking shop".

He said: "We know that primary care services across the country are at the brink of collapse due to the Conservative Party's disgraceful neglect, with patients paying the price.

"Whether it is sky-high GP waiting lists, endless ambulance response times, or a failure to diagnose cancer in time, none of these issues can be fixed without fixing the crisis in social care.

"That is why the Liberal Democrats will make sure that social care is part of the debate and push for a cross-party solution to this crisis."