Security and confidentiality are fundamental when it comes to the storing of patients' medical records.
It is something the NHS has always paid close attention to and no more so than now with the advent of electronic rather than paper-based records for every patient in England.
New technology being introduced by NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH) via the NHS Care Records Service (NHS CRS) is set to change the way patient information is stored and shared between health professionals involved in any one patient's treatment and care.
The new system has the potential to deliver faster, better, safer care by providing clinicians with the right information at the right time and in the right place. It must also ensure patient records are accessed on a secure, need-to-know basis with triggers built in to alert authorities to any inappropriate use or abuse of the system.
At the heart of the NHS CRS is the Personal Demographics Service (PDS), a national electronic database of patient demographic details such as name, address, date of birth and NHS Number.
The benefits of the PDS were realised by one GP on out-of-hours duty in north London. Dr Helen Pelendrides is a partner at Evergreen House Surgery in Wood Green which provides care to 3,300 patients and is one of the first practices in Haringey to adopt Choose and Book, the new electronic hospital booking service. She therefore has a smartcard and login passcode to access the NHS IT system being introduced by NHS CFH.
Helen covers regular shifts for a GP co-operative providing out-of-hours cover on evenings and weekends. During one Friday evening shift she received a call from the local hospital laboratory alerting her to an abnormal result for a blood test taken from a patient registered to another practice in the co-operative.
"The results needed to be acted on," says Helen. "They showed a dangerously low haemoglobin level, and it was a potential life or death situation. We had to find the patient."
A two-hour quest followed as Helen and her driver strived to locate the woman. "All we had to go on was the patient's name, date of birth and GP details, but no address or telephone number," says Helen.
Messages were left for the patient's GP practice, but it was opted out of out-of-hours care and not contactable at 7.30pm on a Friday night. The police were contacted twice, two local accident and emergency departments were alerted, but still Helen struggled to find an address or telephone number for the patient.
Helen continues: "I suddenly thought what if I use my smartcard to access the PDS database and the patient's contact details. I went to the surgery and accessed the system and put in the patient's name but nothing came up.
"We tried again with the same details but with the patient as a female and this time we got a unique match."
Now armed with an address for the patient, Helen and her colleague drove to the woman's home, only to discover she was not there. But with the help of the patient's family, she was located and admitted to hospital for further tests and treatment.
Helen concludes: "The patient did look very unwell and the haematology doctor on call agreed that she should go to hospital. She was very frightened of doctors and hospitals but we managed to persuade her to get checked out.
"It may never happen again, but being able to access basic patient details quite possibly saved this lady's life.
"The PDS doesn't give you anything other than a name and address and it was used for a real medical need. You're not accessing a patient's medical history."
Professor Mike Pringle, NHS Connecting for Health's national clinical lead for GPs, adds: "This is just one example of how NHS CFH systems are helping to deliver safer care for patients. It is also important to remember that this was an emergency situation.
"The highest importance is placed on ensuring the confidentiality of patients' personal information. The PDS can only be accessed with a smartcard and login passcode. Anyone who looks up details of patients without authority is breaking the law and the NHS Code of Practice, and could face disciplinary action."
