Shared Care Record

In mid and south Essex, we’re improving the way your health and care information is managed to ensure you get the best and safest care possible. The Shared Care Record is a new digital tool that brings together key information from the separate care records held by local health and social care organisations. It presents this information in a structured and easy-to-read format.

Hear more about what this is and why we’re doing it:

MSE Shared Care Record: delivering better, more joined-up care

Voiceover: People living in mid and south Essex are set to receive better connected care and safer treatment, thanks to the introduction of the Mid and South Essex Shared Care Record.

Health and social care professionals need access to essential information about a person to deliver the best possible care. This information is often fragmented across the multiple health and social care records managed by various organisations including hospitals, GP practices, local authorities among others.


The Shared Care Record introduces a secure digital solution to bridge this gap. It consolidates key information from a person’s various health and social care records into one structured and easy-to-read platform.

Hear from local professionals about what the introduction of the Shared Care Record means to them and the people they care for.

Dr Deepa Shanmugasundaram, GP in Mid Essex and Chief Clinical Information Officer for Primary Care at Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board says, “As a GP, I currently need to navigate multiple systems to gather important information about a patient. The Shared Care Record will consolidate crucial information in one place, giving me more immediate access to their medical and social care histories.

This insight is crucial for coordinating effectively with other care providers, whether they are specialists, hospital staff, or social care workers. Understanding a patient’s social care is crucial, especially for those with frailty or long-term conditions. Being aware of key carers and existing support packages enables us to blend this with medical care, tailoring our approach to suit their daily life and challenges. This comprehensive perspective ensures care decisions are well-informed and holistic.”

Sam Neville, Chief Nursing Information Officer at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust: “I’m excited about the introduction of the Mid and South Essex Shared Care Record. At its core, the Shared Care Record is a digital tool for us to better understand and respond to our patients’ healthcare needs – whether it’s managing chronic conditions or the more subtle aspects of daily care. By providing a more holistic view of each patient’s health and social care journey, it enables our teams to make more informed decisions aimed at enhancing patient outcomes.

This instant access to comprehensive information could greatly enhance our ability to make swift, informed decisions, directly impacting patient safety. Examples include the ability to make rapid decisions in our emergency department, precise adjustments to medications, and ensuring safe and well-coordinated discharges, among others.

Jude ODonoghue, Senior Social Worker and Approved Mental Health Professional at Southend City Council says “As a social care professional, the Shared Care Record is set to transform the way we support our clients. Having access to comprehensive and up-to-date information is vital. With this new tool, I’ll have immediate access to essential health and care information, allowing for more informed and holistic support.

This means I will be able to see important details like a client’s recent hospital visits, medication changes, or updates in their care plans. It will enable me to provide more targeted and effective assistance, ensuring that the social care we provide is seamlessly integrated with their healthcare.
The Shared Care Record is more than just a tool – it’s a bridge connecting the crucial aspects of health and social care, ensuring every individual receives the best possible support.”


Voiceover: If you’d like to know more about the Shared Care Record, please visit www.midandsouthessexics.nhs.uk/sharedcarerecord

How this benefits you

Having records located in different places can lead to delays and create challenges. With the Shared Care Record, doctors, paramedics, social workers, and other professionals will have secure access to crucial information about you, such as allergies or medications. This not only helps you receive timely treatments but can also be lifesaving in emergencies.

The Shared Care Record also helps us to deliver more tailored care. Instead of repeating your health story every time you see a different professional, they’ll already have access to a lot of this information. This holistic approach helps deliver more personalised care and can help to ease transitions between NHS and social care services.

It’s not just about better, safer care – it’s also about efficiency. Instead of wasting time hunting for bits of information, health and care professionals will have what they need at their fingertips. This will speed up decisions and ensure you get the care you need faster.

Click the buttons below to find out more:

If you have received care from any of the participating local health and social care organisations, your information may be included in the Shared Care Record.

Local health and social care organisations involved in the Shared Care Record are:

  • Southend-on-Sea City Council
  • St Luke’s Hospice
  • Thurrock Council

The Shared Care Record provides access to selected information, not your entire health and social care record. It will include details such as:

  • Clinical notes
  • Medication details
  • Diagnostic results
  • Treatment histories
  • Care and support plans
  • Allergies
  • Appointment information
  • Discharge letters
  • Current health conditions

You can see a data visibility guide that shows what information is being shared by each organisation on this page.

Your information in the Shared Care Record will only ever be used by health and care professionals when providing care for you. It will never be shared with private companies or used for research.

Access is strictly governed by role-based permissions, ensuring that each professional’s access is determined by their role and responsibilities. For example, a doctor may have full access to your the information in your record, while an administrator will typically have a more limited view.

We ensure strict confidentiality by verifying that a legitimate relationship exists between you and the health and care professional accessing your record. This guarantees that only those directly involved in your care can view your information.

Visit the My Care Record website to find out more about how and why health and care data is shared for direct care purposes.

The following measures help us to ensure that your privacy is protected and that your information is used responsibly and securely:

  • Data encryption: All information within the Shared Care Record is encrypted during transfer and storage, providing an additional layer of security to protect your personal health information.
  • Audit trails: Every access to your Shared Care Record is logged. Audit trails are maintained to track who accessed your information, what information was accessed, and when it was accessed. This transparency helps ensure accountability.
  • Data minimisation: Only the necessary information required for your care is shared. This principle helps limit the exposure of your personal health data.
  • Compliance with regulations: The Shared Care Record complies with all relevant data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring that your data is handled in accordance with the highest standards of privacy and security.

We prioritise the clinical safety of our digital systems. Our Clinical Safety Officer works closely with each partner organisation to identify, manage, and minimise any clinical risks. This helps prevent any issues related to outdated, incorrect, or incomplete data, ensuring that health and social care professionals can trust the Shared Care Record for safe and effective care.

To guarantee the security and reliability of the system, we conduct rigorous testing and employ robust procedures for regular data verification, updates, and cross-checks. These stringent measures ensure that your health information remains accurate and up to date.

Accurate and up-to-date information is crucial for health and social care professionals to make well-informed decisions about your care. With the Shared Care Record, these professionals will have immediate access to the essential information they need, improving both the safety and effectiveness of your treatment. This reliable access to information is especially critical in emergency situations, where quick and informed decision-making can significantly impact outcomes.

The Shared Care Record is designed with robust security measures to protect your health and social care information. We use industry-standard network connections to ensure secure data transfer between the Shared Care Record and the IT systems of health and social care organisations in mid and south Essex. These connections maintain the integrity and confidentiality of your information.

Some information is stored securely in the Orion Health Shared Care Record system. This operates on dedicated infrastructure that meets international standards for processing and storing protected health and care information. This ensures your data is handled securely and in compliance with stringent regulations.

You have the right to object to your record being shared between services. To do this, you will need to speak to the person delivering care to you at each organisation such as your GP, specialist, or social worker. However, please consider the following before you object:

  • It is important to understand that not allowing access to your information could affect the quality of the care you receive.
  • Only health and social care professionals involved in your care are allowed to access your information. These people are viewing your record to give you the best quality care they can.
  • In many situations it is necessary to share information between services to deliver care. However, it may be possible to request that specific or sensitive information is not made available.

There may be circumstances where your objection may not be upheld. For example:

  • If it is in the public interest for information to still be shared. For example, if there is a safeguarding issue, or in the case of an individual who might be at risk from harming themselves or a member of the public.
  • If clinical care cannot be provided, for example, GPs providing additional routine appointments at the weekend need access to your GP record to provide you with safe effective care. In this instance, you may choose not to have the appointment. 
  • Some computer systems may not be advanced enough to restrict the sharing of information. However, this information remains confidential amongst the team of people that are directly caring for you.

More information about this can be found on the My Care Record website.

If you have any worries or questions regarding your information, please speak directly to the organisation from which you receive care. They will be able to provide you with detailed information, address your concerns, and guide you through any issues you may be experiencing.

You can find their contact information on their website:

If you would like to know more about our overall approach to improving care by joining up health and care information, please visit My Care Record:

MyCareRecord

Find out more about our digital and technology work:

Digital, data and technology