What steps is the Cabinet Secretary taking to ensure that medical records are safely transferred from England when people move to reside in Wales?
When a patient registers with a new GP practice in Wales after moving from England, their medical records are requested from Primary Care Support England. As soon as the paper medical record is received by NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership - Primary Care Services (NWSSP-PCE) it is sorted and forwarded to the new GP practice in Wales, which processes it onto their clinical system. The process of sorting and distribution is usually competed within 11 days, using the NWSSSP-PCE secure weekly courier service to the practice.
Delays in the transfer of medical records from England are beyond our control, however, when any delay occurs, the new GP practice may contact the previous practice in England and request an urgent patient summary be emailed across for prescribing, treatment or clinical discussion purposes while awaiting the full paper medical record to arrive at the new GP practice.
Unfortunately, GP to GP electronic transfers of the medical record cannot take place between England and Wales due to differences in IT system architecture.
NWSSP-PCE is establishing a working group with Digital Health and Care Wales, health boards, Welsh Government and BMA Cymru Wales representation, to look at options for improving systems for medical records transfer.