Sharing records between GPs and hospitals is “the most important thing” for improving patient care, the chief inspector of general practice has argued.
During the first round of inspections, Professor Steve Field said he had been impressed by the quality of electronic records held in practices, but had concerns about how they link up with hospitals and out-of-hours care.
Speaking to The Independent, he said the fact that consultants and GPs do not have access to a combined medical record is “absurd” and “detrimental to patient care”.
All patients in England should be given access to their complete medical records, he said.
Professor Field said: “Why are we sending letters to doctors or emails to doctors when it’s actually in the same record? You should be able to read the plans in the record.
“In general we are finding the record keeping is very, very good but hospitals are behind us.”
