Personalisation in health and social care records is crucial for the people using services, according to the early results of our new surveys. Key information, such as how someone’s needs might change after being in hospital, needs to be recorded correctly in order to make people feel comfortable and secure about their care and wellbeing. More than half of respondents so far also said that there is information missing when a person is referred for social care services, for example, updates on a person’s diagnosis or explanations for carers or next of kin. These issues are just some of the things being addressed as we build our new standards for information sharing, so that health and social care services can be better connected. 

More than 800 people have contributed to the surveys, which will help us to enhance the lives of people using social care and health services. Our survey is still open until Friday 31 July so if you use services, care for someone who uses them or work in health and care, we would love to hear your views. So far a wide range of professionals have helped to support our work, as well as people getting support in care homes or  at home. Their needs are at the heart of plans to connect and streamline social care and health information, and their voices will play a crucial role in developing the standards to support this.  

Some contributors in the survey have highlighted the importance of ‘must know’ information in a record that would be required for a person’s safety. It was also suggested that a ‘risk matrix’ could be useful to determine where harm (physical or psychological) could arise and how serious this could be. Others highlighted how personal preferences and values might need to be recorded, in order to make someone feel comfortable. For example, a person who is vegan may not be happy taking medications with animal products. When developing the standards we will be taking into account all the discussions and suggestions we have heard. We hope that once implemented, this standardised information will help everyone involved in care to gain access to the information they need to help people in living the best possible lives they can. From crucial information about medication and its effects, right through to daily goals and aspirations, it will help to ensure that everyone can be treated as an individual.  

For more information or to complete the survey please visit our survey page