Permission based real-time record matching through NHS number validation to enable improved information sharing, control and governance

Barnsley Council and Liquidlogic, a McKesson company, today announce that they have successfully achieved integration of the NHS and social care records of adults in the community. Using Liquidlogic's adult social care management system, Barnsley is now able to match in real-time an individual's NHS and social care record through NHS number validation against the Personal Demographics Service (PDS) on the national Spine. Part of the Department of Health Social Care Personal Demographics Service Early Adopters (SCPEA) programme, this initiative sits at the core of Barnsley's aim to provide seamless health and social care delivery, improving people's outcomes and independence through better control and governance.

Ian Fereday, Business Information Manager, Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, comments, "The existing model of care delivery is largely one of social care and healthcare as separate entities working in partnership. However, huge transformation can be enabled by technology, allowing every pound invested in health and social care to work as hard as it possibly can while achieving both improved care delivery."

He continues, "It has long been our objective to work towards this model of integrated care; we identified in Liquidlogic's adult social care system an ideal opportunity to start this process and are very proud to have achieved this adult health and social care record integration."

Barnsley and Liquidlogic have worked in partnership for five years. More recently, the two organisations have focused on developing integration between Liquidlogic's adult social care system and the PDS, enabling Barnsley's social care workers and care practitioners to validate, in real-time, an individual's NHS number on their social care record against their health care record.

This permission-based, real-time validation means at a very basic level that individuals no longer have to be asked for their personal details every time they are visited. More fundamentally than that, though, the solution allows carers to ensure that they are talking about the same person across health and social care and critically prevents duplication or inaccuracy across care records. Moving forward, this will enable relevant information and assessment data to be shared electronically with the individual's consent, in order to achieve a greater level of seamless care.

Commenting on the PDS project, Jim Sullivan, Sales Director at Liquidlogic, said: "We're delighted to have achieved this milestone with Barnsley.  The project demonstrates the type of joined-up working which so many Local Authorities and Health providers aspire to.  Improving outcomes for service users and patients requires effective integration of Health and Social Care systems and processes. This integrated approach ensures a smoother journey for the service user."

He added, "Having been through the compliance process with NHS Connecting for Health, we are now confident that our product is resilient and robust to deliver an integrated system."

Ian Fereday concludes, "At its core, this project is about integrated care. The technology is the key to enabling the type of information sharing, control and governance that should sit at the heart of care delivery across social care and health."