The power of information - easy read version

The power of information

Chapter 1
What is the information strategy for?

Good information is an
important part of making sure
people stay healthy and get the
best care. It supports people to
know about care and treatment
choices and the quality of
services.

This strategy is guided by the
Health and Social Care Act and
covers public health and care
and support across England.

The focus is on improving access
to information and ensuring the
support needed to use and
understand it.

It is about making sure that
everyone benefits equally from
information about care services.

1

The Information Strategy aims to make the following things happen:

Information about me and my care

Change the way health and
care professionals and
organisations use the information
in our own care records, making
sure that our right to have access
to information about us is
supported.

?
Make sure that anyone who
needs it gets support to access
and understand information
about their health and care, so
that they have an equal say
and can be active in their own
care.

2

Information Links for joined up care

Make sure that information we
give to any health or care
professional is recorded properly
and shared safely so that we do
not have to keep telling people
the same thing again and
again.

Information to improve health and care
services

Have clear ways to get
information about health and
care services. This will include
a website that will link to
accessible health and care
information you can trust.

The Information System

Encourage health and care
professionals to make sure that
they listen to our feedback and
use information about us to
make the care we get better.

3

What the Information Strategy means for me?

This strategy will make a difference to everyone involved in health
and social care including:

Patients or service users

Carers
(Friends or family members
looking after people)

Citizens and members of the
community
(All of us)

4


Health and Care professionals
(Doctors, nurses, social-workers,
care-workers ...)

Service providers
(People and organisations who
provide health and social care
services)

Commissioners of health and
care services
(Those who choose and buy
services from service providers)

5


Information and IT specialists
(People who make sure that we
can access information on
computers)

System Suppliers
(People who provide the
technology that allows
information to be collected,
stored and studied)

Information Intermediaries
(These are organisations that
take information and data that
is available centrally and
present it in different ways such
as interactive formats or apps)

Each of the following chapter sets out the key ways
that this strategy will affect these different people.

6


Chapter 2
Information about me and my care

Making it easier to look at and
share your health and care
records will support you to take
control of your own care and
work with professionals to make
sure that there is ‘no decision
about me without me’.

New technologies will help us all
to get more involved with how
health and care services are run.

However, we want to make
sure that your confidential
information is kept safe and you
can say who can look at it.

7

Things that will happen:

Health and care professionals
and organisations will be asked
to make sure they keep clear
records about your health care.

They will make sure that your
right to have access to your
records and information about
you is supported.

We will be able to see our GP
records online by 2015. In time
we will be able to see other
records about our care online.

8


Commissioners and providers will
be expected to make sure that
anyone who needs it gets support
to access and understand
information about their health
and care.

This will ensure they have an
equal say and can be active in
their own health care.

Information in our care records
will be kept safe and confidential.

9

What this means for me:
As a patient or service user

By 2015 I will be able to see my
GP records online. In time I will
also be able to see other
records about my care online.

I will get the support I need to
access and understand
information about my health
and care, so that I have an
equal say and can be active in
my own health care.

It will be important that my
information is only shared with
the people I choose and those
who treat me medically and
care for me professionally.

10


If I want I will be able to:

Use the computer to:
• Book appointments and
order repeat prescriptions
online
• Keep in touch with my
health and care professionals
electronically
• Use IT and online services to
find out how to keep myself
well

If I find using computers hard I
can ask my health and care
providers to give me information
in a way that I can understand.

11


As a carer

I will be able to access health
and care records about the
person / people I care for online
if I have their permission. This will
help me to give better support
to the person/people I care for.

As a health and care professional

Using IT more to communicate
with patients and service users
will support me to provide better
services and free up my time for
those who need face to face
care.

12


I will have a duty to allow my
patients or clients to access their
online records and support them
to understand what they mean.

I must make sure that records
are shared safely so that
information can be used to
improve a person’s care and
make services better for
everyone.

13


As a service provider

My organisation will make a plan
and timetable for all of our
patients and service users to
have online access to their care
records and other services in
time.

We will provide support to
enable everyone to access and
understand these services.

14


Chapter 3
Linking Information for joined up care

This is about recording and
sharing information about our
health and care so that all the
different professionals who may
look after us can work together
to give us better treatment and
care.

By 2015 improvements in the
way that GPs and hospitals
record and share our records
and test results will mean that
we get treatment more quickly
and safely.

In time professionals will be able
to access bits of information
taken from all of our records that
will support them to find out things
like who has access to services,
what services need to improve,
which treatments work and how
services can be improved to be
safer and save money.

15


Information we give to any
health or care professional will
be recorded properly and
shared safely so that we do not
have to keep telling people the
same thing again and again.

Our own unique NHS number
will be used on all of our records
so that they are kept together.

Professionals will be able to
access any useful records about
us online but it will be done in a
way that will keep our
information safe and in one
place.

16


Services across England will
have to use IT systems that can
work together so that information
can be shared wherever you
are.

Health and care professionals
must be willing to work together
on this to make it work.

As a citizen and member of the community

I will be able to get more useful
information about services and
how good they are. This will help
me to make better choices.

17


Information from my care
records that will not give away
who I am will be used to make
care services and treatments
better so that everyone’s health
is improved and money is spent
wisely.


Wherever I go for my care
services, from my GP, to a care
home or A&E, professionals will
be able to get the information
they need about me to make
sure I get the best care.

The results of important tests will
be available electronically so
that professionals can find out
how to make me better quicker
and I will not have to worry for so
long.

18


As a carer

Good information for
professionals will make the
services they provide better.
This will make it easier and
quicker for me to explain what
care and treatment the person
I care for is getting.


By recording and sharing
information better, I will know
more about what my clients
need and how well the care I
am giving them is working.

I will make sure that I record the
right information about any
treatments and care I give as
soon as possible after it is given.
I will follow national standards
and link it to the personal NHS
number.

19

I will share this information with
other health and care
professionals and the Health
and Social Care Information
Centre where it can be held
and linked securely. This will help
us all improve health and care.


I will have detailed information
about my organisation and the
people we support which will
help us make our services better.

As a commissioner

I will be able to check on the
quality of care that services
provide and make sure that we
get value for money.

20

Chapter 4
Information to improve health and care services

Being able to find useful
up-to-date information helps us
to make choices about our
health. It is also important that
we can give feedback about
what we think of the services
and care we get so that they
can be improved.

This chapter looks at information
about what we think about the
care we get, how well hospitals
work, what health problems we
get and what works best to treat
them.

By making it easier for everyone
to get this information from one
website we can all begin to
make healthier lifestyle choices
for ourselves.

21


From March 2013 it will be easier
to find the information we need
about our health care.
• 999 will be the number to
call for emergencies
• 111 will be the number to
call if you need medical
help or advice straight away
but it is not life threatening
• An ‘online portal’ will link us
to information we can trust

Opportunities for other providers
to support the Government’s
core information by producing
information that is accessible to
more people.

More specialist information
about telling us what care and
treatment works best will help us
to compare services.

More feedback will be collected
so that services can be made
better.

22



A new national information
portal will make it easier for me
to find information about my
health and care that I can trust.
It will help me to:

Know more about any health
conditions I have.

Know more about what care
services or clinical teams offer so
that I can make choices about
my care. I will get support to do
this if I need it.

23

I will be able to easily leave
feedback about what I think
about the care I have had
whenever I use health and
care services. I will know that it
will be used to make services
better.

I will know that everyone will
have a chance to say what
they think about their care and
treatment, even if they are not
able to use the information
portal.

As a carer

I will be able to use the ‘online
portal’ to get the information I
need to help the person I care
for without having to look in lots
of different places. I will be able
to find out about support I can
get to help me financially and
give me a break.

24


As a citizen and member of the community

I will be able to get information
online that will help me to
decide if I need medical help
and find out what I can do to
lead a healthier life.

I will be able to find out about
groups and support networks
that I can join to improve my
health and wellbeing.

I will be able to find out which
organisations and professionals
are doing the best job.

25


My patients and service users will
know more about their own
health needs and which are the
best services for them.
I will need to involve them in
deciding which services they
need, but the fact that they
know more and are able to work
with me to stay well will save me
time in the future.

My time will also be saved
because I can quickly get my
patients’/ services users’ records
which will contain other useful
information about care,
treatment and tests they have
had elsewhere.

The public will be able to find out
more about the quality of the
services my organisation provides.
I will also be able to find out what
people who have used our
services thought about them and
this will help me to make things
better.

26

Chapter 5
The information system

The Government will work to
make it possible for all the
information systems that different
organisations use to work better
together so that information can
be shared.

As well as investing in equipment,
key health and care staff will be
responsible for collecting and
recording all the information.

They will be trained and
supported to make sure the
system works and health and
care professionals will be
encouraged to work with them.

27


The Health and Social Care
Information Centre will be an
online place where all NHS,
public health and social care
information in England will be
kept. Other organisations and
the public will be able to access
this information to make health
and social care better.


The Information Centre will be
where all collected feedback
and health and care
information is kept and where
everybody looks for information.

The Information Centre will
provide a special secure service
that allows health professionals
and scientists to get information
about the health of the
population. This will help them to
develop better treatments and
medicines for the future.

28


As a patient or service user,
as a carer, as a citizen and
a member of the community

I will know more about my own
health and the quality and type
of services that I can get.

Whilst my personal details are
kept private, information about
my general health and care
and what I think about it will be
shared and compared with
information about everyone else.

This is to make sure that services
are made better and that we all
have equal access to them.

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As a health and care professional, as a service provider, as a
commissioner of care services

I will have a much clearer
picture of the health history of
individuals.

I will be able to use this to
contribute to improvements in
health and care services and
research that will improve the
general health of people in
England.

I can use information from the
Information Centre to compare
treatments and services and find
out what works best to improve
care.

30


31


We hope that this information
has been helpful.

If you have any questions please
ask your health and social care
professionals to explain more.

They may be able to direct you
to other people or organisations
who can support you to get the
best access to health and social
care.

32

Who to call?

Call 999 if:
you believe you or someone
else is in a life threatening
situation.

Call 111 if:
• You need medical help
fast but it is not a 999
emergency

• You think you need to go to
Accident and Emergency
or need other NHS urgent
care services

• You do not know who to
call or you do not have a
GP

• You need health
information or someone to
help you decide what to do

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Easy read edited and illustrated
by CHANGE
www.changepeople.co.uk

The power of information - easy read version

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