This site is intended for health professionals only


GP contract will allow sharing of records around the whole of the NHS, claims Hunt

Electronic GP records will be shared around the whole of the health and social care system under the terms of the new contract deal from April, Jeremy Hunt has told MPs.

He told an evidence session of the House of Common’s Health Committee today that the new contract deal would allow sharing of GP records ‘with patient consent’.

The admission comes after Pulse revealed last week that Mr Hunt claimed that care homes would be given access to GP records and would be required to update them ‘daily’ under the ‘named GP’ role given to GPs in the new contract from April. The GPC denied these claims, saying that such a scheme would be a potential ‘minefield’ for patient confidentiality issues.

But the health secretary went even further today saying that the new contract would allow the sharing of GP records across the NHS.

Mr Hunt said: ‘I think there is a lot of things that we can do better […] than we are currently doing, for example with the use of technology. The new GP contract includes agreement from GPs that hasn’t existed before surrounding the use of the GP record, which with patients’ consent we’ll now be able to use around the system electronically.’

Under details released last month by NHS England, GPs will be required to make the summary care record available online to patients.