Safeguarding patients from harm or distress

While enabling patients to view their medical records through the NHS App is beneficial to the majority of patients, there may be challenges and potential risks for a minority. This is especially true in relation to safeguarding vulnerable adults, as the record may contain information that is confidential and sensitive, which the patient must not see, or could be harmful if the patient is unable to keep their record secure, such as, in cases of coercion.

When considering safeguarding issues, it is important to remember that patients will only be able to see new information as it is saved in their health record after the practice go-live date (referred to as “prospective” records). This means you can consider any safeguarding issues and determine any restrictions following your go-live date as your practice interacts with individual patients or as new entries are inputted.

Watch a recording of a webinar, (requires FutureNHSlogin), resented by Dr James Higgins and Dr Devin Gray, which focuses on reducing harm and safeguarding risk reduction, including the reporting mechanism for safeguarding incidents and improving efficacy. You will need a NHSFutures account to login.

A TPP-focused webinar on enabling online record access and safeguarding patients took place on the 6 October. The session included a discussion between Helen Crowther, National Digital Primary Care Nurse Lead for NHS England, and Dr Tim Caroe, NHS England South East Medical Director Primary Care Transformation and GP at The Lighthouse Medical Practice. This was followed by a presentation from colleagues at Pelton and Fellrose Medical Group. Questions from the webinar have been added to the existing document. You can also watch the recording and view the presentation slides (requires FutureNHS login).