Virgin Care launches integrated care record in Bath and North East Somerset

Virgin Care has launched a new integrated care record (ICR) in Bath and North East Somerset (BaNES) district in the UK that enables health and social care professional to share records of 189,000 residents in a secured manner to provide better, proactive and more focused community care.

The UK-based health and social care services provider said that providing the new integrated care record was among a number of important deliverable tasks it had identified for Bath and North East Somerset CCG and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

The integrated care record provides care professionals with a single point of information across the community that enables them to share records appropriately and ensure those who require it to get access to treatment quickly and enhance patient flow across the area and in reducing waiting time.

Joanna Scammell, Virgin Care Head of Commissioning and Wellbeing said: “With direct access to the ICR, it enables you to find out whether for example, someone has had a Covid-19 positive diagnosis.

“This can help professionals understand if someone they are going to visit has been tested or had a positive diagnosis so they are able to support them better, more remotely and with more information about their care.”

Virgin Care launches integrated care record in Bath and North East Somerset

The integrated care record will share information between Virgin Care, General Practices, Bath and North East Somerset Council and also Royal United Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Kirsty Matthews – Bath and North East Somerset Managing Director said: “The ICR provides a fantastic opportunity to provide joined up care, giving health and social care staff across Bath and North East Somerset’s organisations appropriate timely information.

“The benefits of the ICR are already being realised, particularly during the pandemic. It provides quick, clear and easy to access headline information about a service user and it allows our colleagues to access information about other services outside of their own, which may help provide more support where needed.”

VirginCare has been the main provider for coordinating health and social care services in BaNES. The company said that the new integrated care record will enhance the safe and efficient delivery of services, and experience of service users at the point of care.