What is the National Record Locator?
NHS England’s National Record Locator (NRL) enables health and social care teams to access patient information such as end of life plans and ReSPECT forms from outside their area. This is particularly useful when a person is away from home on holiday or when an Ambulance Trust serves a large region spanning multiple Integrated Care Boards (ICBs).
The Graphnet Solution
Graphnet has recently been accredited to operate with the NRL, enabling documents held in Graphnet Shared Care Record to be accessed by organisations who do not necessarily use Graphnet. This not only increases accessibility but also avoids the need for costly and complex interfaces with third party systems.
Graphnet’s Shared Care Solution can be configured to automatically notify the NRL when selected document types, such as ReSPECT plans, are generated, enabling care teams to view patient information in real time.
Why Graphnet’s Shared Care NRL?
The NRL allows organisations to access specific parts of a patient's record when full access may not be appropriate or practical. This saves both time and money for the ICB who manage Graphnet Shared Care and the organisation seeking access.
For instance, Ambulance Trusts, which often cover multiple ICBs and shared care records, can use the NRL to view End of Life plans and ReSPECT forms, avoiding the need to interface with multiple shared care systems. This benefits both the professionals managing these records and the patients by providing:
- Critical information to out-of-hours service providers who may otherwise be unaware of a patient’s support needs.
- Access to a patient's records for care teams, even if the individual has been admitted in another part of the country.
- Reassurance for patients who aren’t required to repeat their medical history to new teams.
- Time and cost savings for health and social care teams, enabling quicker direction to the right services for patients.
How Does the NRL Work?
The seamless integration between Graphnet Shared Care and the NRL provides care teams with essential patient information. Here’s how it works:
- Generate a Pointer: A pointer is automatically generated when a care plan (such as ReSPECT, End of Life, or Contingency) is generated within the Graphnet shared record. The pointer links directly to the document source, ensuring that security protocols are maintained.
- Search for Patient: The NRL consumer (e.g., an ambulance or out-of-hours service) searches for the patient within the NRL and views the available pointers. By clicking the pointer, they can access the document stored in Graphnet with no need to export or transfer files. The NRL is updated whenever documents change so that only the latest, most accurate information is accessible.
- Access document: Once the NRL consumer clicks on the pointer, they are provided access to the document at its source within Graphnet CareCentric shared record, ensuring the document is current and adheres to all security measures. If a document is removed in Graphnet, it will also be reflected in the NRL.
