Sharing your patient information is critical in supporting your care and treatment, especially in situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This is where the GM Care Record comes in.

Health and care organisations across Greater Manchester have accelerated the deployment of the GM Care Record for all 2.8m citizens to provide frontline professionals with vital information in the fight against COVID-19.

The GM Care Record allows workers in health or social care, easy access to patient information that is critical to support decision-making about patient care and treatment.

It shares important information about your health and care including:

• Any current health or care issues
• Your medications
• Allergies you may have
• Results of any recent tests that you may have had
• Details on any plans created for your care or treatment
• Information on any social care or carer support you my recieve

The GM Care Record pulls patient information from several important areas of health and care including:

• primary care e.g. GP practices
• community services
• mental health services
• social care
• secondary care e.g. hospitals
• specialist services e.g. NWAS

It’s an extension of integrated care records already live in each locality of Greater Manchester (e.g. Manchester Care Record, Bolton Care Record etc). However, it collates patient information from across Greater Manchester into one place, making it easily accessible for health and care workers to inform direct care from across geographies and organisations.

It means that patients won’t have to keep repeating their medical history to each professional in different organisations, care plans will be followed consistently and clinicians will be better equipped to identify patterns and plan care more effectively to meet the patients’ needs.

The amount of data that the GM Care Record holds is increasing all the time. Data is constantly being added, so that a combined record can be developed for all our citizens to help better decision making and more informed care and treatment.

In response to the pandemic, the GM Care Record also includes information about when a patient has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and whether they are self-isolating at home or have been hospitalised. This ensures continuity of care across different care settings and alternatives such as digital support can be put in place.

The project has been overseen by Health Innovation Manchester and the GM Health and Social Care Partnership, working on behalf of GM’s devolved health and care partners. Rapid progress has been made in weeks rather than months as part of the city region’s digital response plan and collaborative effort.