Last year, the PRSB asked citizens and health and care professionals to help produce a ‘core information standard’ that defines what information should be shared in a person’s care record throughout their life. The standard includes a wide range of information from different services, including the GP, hospitals, social care and mental health services among others. It incorporates an ‘about me’ section, which outlines what people want professionals to know about their care, as well as other crucial information, such as allergies, medications and alerts.

The core information standard is a reference framework for driving integrated care. Its development was prompted by the Local Health and Care Record programme but it is a major asset for digital information sharing generally. Its development was the product of collective efforts of clinicians, professionals, IT developers and suppliers, patients and carers. Its usefulness and usability will be tested through implementation. PRSB has been asked by NHSX to carry out an evaluation with the Local Health and Care Record programme to determine how widely the standard is being adopted and whether there are barriers to its implementation that need to be addressed and overcome. This work is schedule for the second half of 2020 and will be reported to NHSX and PRSB’s advisory board before sharing more widely.