Dorset Care Record reaches major milestones

The county's integrated electronic health and care record - the Dorset Care Record (DCR) - has hit several major milestones in recent weeks.

More than 10,000 dedicated professionals delivering treatment, care and support have now been trained to use the DCR.

The record provides real-time, 24/7 access to vital health and social care information across multiple providers, meaning its saving time, improving patient outcomes and not duplicating data.

As a result of the ongoing training, accesses to patient records continue to rise with a record number of more than 175,000 accessed by health and social care professionals during July. Many of the users are from hospital settings, with University Hospitals Dorset recording more than 100,000 records accessed last month.

The DCR has seen more than £11.6m worth of time efficiency benefits accrued last year. This has increased from £8.7m in 2023/4 and is based on users confirming, via the annual users survey, that they are saving more than 30 minutes a day - predominantly through not having to call, email GPs or other services, as this information is available to them through the care record.

Over the past two years, a range of new organisations have joined the care record. These include:

* CHEC Ophthalmology - a provider of ophthalmology and other healthcare services within Dorset and Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) for the NHS

* Coastal Medical Partnership

* Harbour Hospital (Circle Healthcare) - NHS patients only

* Nuffield Hospital - NHS patients only

* Oakhaven Hospice

* Special Care Dentistry Dorset (part of Somerset NHS Foundation Trust)

* Tricuro, who run a number of care homes for BCP Council

* Wessex Clinical Van - (parts of Midlands Partnership University Foundation Trust).

 Councillor Steve Robinson, Cabinet Portfolio lead for Adult Social Care, said he was delighted with the progress of the shared care record: "Uptake of the DCR has grown substantially in recent times and it is making a huge difference for our residents.

"By having immediate access to vital information, it gives a more rounded picture of a patient's health, enabling informed decisions to be made at the right time and the right place," he added

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