Revolving Doors responds to first Parliamentary debate on NHS single patient record
I don’t think people realise just how exhausting it is to keep trying to explain yourself when the system isn’t built for you.
– Lived experience member
Plans for a single patient record for the NHS in England were debated for the first time in Parliament today. Revolving Doors welcome this debate. We encourage MPs to consider the lived experience of people in public health systems, including those caught in cycles of crisis and crime who are often involved with multiple services across health, justice, housing and more. Their unique insights are crucial to tackling the policy and practice gap when decisions are made that impact safeguarding and joined up working across health services and infrastructure.
Revolving Doors CEO Pavan Dhaliwal said:
“Creating a single patient record has real potential to spare people the distress of repeatedly reliving traumatic experiences just to access basic care. But this must go hand in hand with giving people genuine control over their own data. Those who have navigated multiple services know better than anyone what needs to change. Their voices must shape the regulations from the start.”
Over the last few years, we have heard from over 90 Revolving Doors members about their views on data ownership and the ways people experience and navigate public services, reflecting a broad range of lived experience including substance use, mental ill-health, trauma, homelessness and poverty. Their insights shine a powerful light on the real-world impact of convoluted and duplicative data management in public services:
“If you disclose you use, there is a fear of involvement of social services. You fear being punished if relapse occurs. You have to be careful about letting an agency in.”
“They all collaborate when they’re working against you — but not when they’re meant to help you.”
“You have to tell your story over and over again. It’s exhausting.”
“If services talked to each other properly, things wouldn’t get missed.”
Our role as an organisation is to amplify the role of lived experience in policy, practice and research design – and continue to advocate that decision makers value co-production and diverse experiences creating change.
