There are benefits for care homes and GP practices to be able to access further information by proxy which will grow as time goes on.

You can download a good practice example here.

Benefits calculator

The benefits calculator estimates the potential time and cost savings for a GP practice and care home from the implementation of proxy access to GP online services.   It was used to calculate the cost savings set out in the example of good practice published as part of this guidance.

Benefits of online record access by care staff

Having access to up-to-date clinical information at the time it is needed most helps social care organisations provide the safest, best quality care possible.  Where information can only be accessed verbally or in writing, and during the working day, delays can seriously impact on resident/patient care and outcomes.

Sharing information when it is needed has benefits for GPs, care providers as well as patients/residents. Experience to date shows a long list of benefits from care staff having access to GP online records. For example:

• reducing phone calls and manual requests for information across all health and care settings saves time and money, as shown in the example of good practice
• avoiding the need for people to provide the same information to different health and care professionals time and time again improves patient/resident experience
• health and care professionals’ understanding of an individual’s condition is improved, which in turn enables personalised treatment planning
• less need for unnecessary repeated tests and assessments, which improves patient safety and saves time and money
• sharing full and reliable allergy, medication, diagnosis, and social circumstance information across all health and care settings improves patient/resident safety
• unnecessary admissions to hospital can be avoided, by giving health and care professionals more information about the individual when making their professional decisions
• people’s engagement in their own care and adherence with medication and care plans is improved, by providing individuals and their carers via proxy access to their shared records
• safeguarding is supported, by sharing alerts across multiple care settings
• communications and working relationships between all parties are improved
• fewer risks and issues associated with mis-translation of prescriptions
• care providers can respond more safely to changes in care plans resulting from GP visits
• checking information and getting answers to queries is faster and easier and at any time of the day or night
• fewer errors caused by misunderstandings
• improved clinical safety providing clarity of outcomes from a GP consultation, removes any ambiguity, providing a clearly documented record which is always available to authorised carers
• an improved, easy to access digital audit trail
• improved data security due to care home staff having their own username and password, which also saves time
• increased reliability and accuracy of information, as it come straight from the GP practice
• care providers can see a documented record of GP’s advice, which reduces risk from the care provider perspective.

View the next sections in this guide:

• List of downloadable resources used in this guidance
• Other guides in this series