GP record guidance overhauled

A major overhaul of the good practice guidelines for GP electronic records has been published, with a focus on record sharing and interoperability.

The new version of the Good Practice Guidelines for GP electronic patient records has taken two years to complete and replaces the last version, which was written in 2005.

Dr Alan Hassey, lead author and member of the BMA and RCGP’s Joint GP IT Committee, said the guidelines aimed to help GPs working in an age of record sharing and interoperability.

He told EHI Primary Care: “This is not just moving the old guidelines on a notch, but a whole new set of guidelines that is meant to reflect that records are now moved around. We have put data and record quality right at the heart of the guidelines.”

The 225 pages of guidance is backed by the BMA, the Royal College of GPs and the Department of Health.

It includes sections on the Summary Care record and Scotland’s Emergency Care Summary, GP2GP electronic record transfer, and the Electronic Prescription Service, as well as shared electronic patient records.

Dr Hassey said he felt there was “quite a lot of work to be done” for GP practices to produce records that were of good quality for record sharing.

He said practices had good quality prescribing data, because electronic prescribing systems had been used for a long time, and good data on areas covered by the Quality and Outcomes Framework, on which GP income depends.

“Where we are less sure about data quality is on the rest of the stuff that gets moved around," he said.

The guidance puts much emphasis on making records fit to be shared. Interoperability, underpinned by a clinical safety approach, and high quality records are both the subject of new chapters.

Dr Hassey said the guidance was in line with the policy imperatives from the Department of Health and its Information Revolution strategy.

He predicted that improving the quality of records would gain in importance under GP commissioning consortia.

He added: “We are already seeing with the new QoF that practices will be working together on prescribing, referrals and emergency admissions.”

Dr Hassey, who edited the guidance with input from a range of professional bodies and GPs, said the aim was to have a more regular process for updating the guidelines in future.