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What is the Derbyshire Shared Care Record (DSCR)?

Historically, health and social care organisations in Derbyshire held different sets of records about you. The information in different records may be duplicated or incomplete.

The DSCR is a confidential computer record that joins up different records to create a more comprehensive and up-to-date record about you - this will help improve the care you can deliver to patients.

Improved access to health and social care information explained - Derbyshire Shared Care Record

JUCD - Introduction to the Derbyshire Shared Care Record

Benefits of the DSCR include:

  • Less duplication
  • Time saved chasing information
  • Instant access to data from other services across health and social care
  • Allows faster decision making.
  • Avoidance of wasted visits.

Ian Lawrence, chief clinical information officer at Derbyshire Community Health Services, explains how the Derbyshire Shared Care Record tackles the issue of visibility for records where citizens receive care across multiple organisations. The Derbyshire Shared Care Record is the first step towards creating a central access point for records in Derbyshire, for both health and social care. Watch the video below.

Information governance

A data sharing agreement has been completed for all health and social care organisations to enable sharing of data for direct care.

NHS have released a statement to support the sharing of data for direct care which can be reviewed in full here.

Case studies

Hear how the DSCR has helped other colleagues:

"The DSCR allows visibility of a citizen's history across health and social care."

"The DSCR allows us to back up a citizens version of events and gives insight into the collaboration of teams involved with their care past and present."

“Access to the DSCR reduces the need for repeated questioning of the citizen and duplication of effort as previous care entries and history are visible. The citizen can be assured that each service involved in their care have up to date information regarding their healthcare background.”

Setting: Residential Care setting

Health and Care professional: Unit Manager of Residential Home for Derbyshire County Council

Benefits: 

  • Avoiding delays with emergency admissions
  • Allows faster decision making around medication and care.
  • Reduces barriers between Health and Social Care

“We have an emergency admissions and sometimes there is no medication accompanying the client, but sometimes there are numerous boxes of medication. Before the Derbyshire Shared Care Record, we would be running blind and would not administer medication until we were sure which were appropriate. The medication in the boxes could be the reason that the client was being admitted, after all”.

“Previously, we would need to ring the GP (within surgery hours) to ask for information and were frequently advised that information could not be disclosed. This could be to detrimental effect on the client if they were taking any regular, vital medications. Medication may have been withheld until there was certainty regarding current medication”.

“The Derbyshire Shared Care Record speeds up care and decision making at the click of a button, it means that the client’s vital medications are not delayed, and so avoiding added complications”.

“The DSCR has brought about change that is needed, and it reduces the barriers to two-way communication between Health and Social Care”.

Derbyshire County Council – Yolande, Unit Manager for Residential Home

Setting: Community Services

Health and Care professional: Clinical Physiotherapist

Benefits: 

  • Enhanced information gathering process
  • Instant access to the data of other services
  • The citizen experiences more efficient, cost effective, accurate care
  • Citizen’s levels of anxiety reduced due to joined up approach

“The Derbyshire Shared Care Record has been transformational in the way that I manage orthopaedics. I use the Derbyshire Shared Care Record regularly as Clinical Lead Physio and it really enhances the information gathering process. When I see a new patient, I can view their history from acute services and also their care with the GP. I can see pending appointments and orthopaedic reviews, this enables me to provide accurate, targeted care”

“When a citizen has a complex health background or an unusual health condition, it can be stressful for the citizen to gain expertise of their own condition and be responsible for conveying the correct information to the right person, which is unfair. Being able to view the DSCR reduces this pressure on the citizen, this positively impacts the citizen’s wellbeing”

“One of my patients had experienced poor bone healing, had undergone bone grafting, hormone implants and had seen specialists in London. I had not previously seen this condition in my role as a Physiotherapist. I advised the citizen that I would go and check the Shared Care Record and I was immediately able to access previous correspondence. As this citizen had previously suffered bouts of depression and anxiety, I was happy to be able to keep the momentum with this citizen’s care, pertinent to reducing the pressure. Day to day I can see efficiencies, a lot less time is spent ringing around the acute Trusts or the GPs for information and this results in time savings and helps to provide evidence based joined up care”

DCHS - Laura, Clinical Physiotherapist

Setting: Primary Care

Health and Care professional: GP and Safeguarding Lead for Practice

Benefits: 

  • Ability to see where a patient has an onward referral
  • Availability of Secondary Care Data

“Using the Derbyshire Shared Care Record has lead to a massive improvement regarding the availability of relevant patient data. Previously, I would refer a patient to a secondary care specialist service for care and I would not receive an update until a letter/email was received from the consultant. Since I have had access to the Derbyshire Shared Care Record, I can see where a patient has an onward referral from one specialty to another within the acute setting.  This gives me a good view of the progress that is being made and I can see this in real time, rather than waiting for correspondence or speaking to the patient”

“Previously, I would have asked my Care Coordinator to follow up, but I can easily find the information and I can see whether the patient has any further appointments, such as out-patients for continuation of their care”

Andy Jordan – GP and Caldicott Guardian Moir Practice

Setting: Out-Patient Specialist Rehabilitation

Health and Care professional: Occupational Therapist

Benefits: 

  • Visibility of other services involvement with citizen
  • Visibility of exact details regarding care and interventions
  • Allows the correct service to continue care

“I work as an Occupational Therapist in a busy Outpatient Department and I regularly use the Derbyshire Share Care Record (DSCR). It is easy to use and I find that checking the citizen’s record equips me with Health information allowing me to make informed decisions regarding the care of the patient”

“One example of where the DSCR has helped to reduce the number of services involved in a citizen’s care is where we had a patient who was receiving care from the GP, Community services and Outpatient services. The citizen was making very regular demands on all three care providers and in effect playing one off against the other with varying stories and questioning what each was saying. After reviewing the DSCR with GP and Community colleagues we were able to establish between all three services that the citizen only needed to be receiving care from the Community teams at that point, so this contact was scheduled appropriately”

“Ongoing, we can therefore help to reduce the GP’s workload, and that of the Outpatient Department who had been receiving many phone calls from the citizen. This means that there is increased availability of appointments for citizens who need them”

UHDB – Rachael Stringer

Setting: Rapid Response

Health and Care professional: Physiotherapist

Benefits:

  • Information visible regarding weight bearing status
  • Less failed visits due to hospital admission
  • Greater detail regarding diagnoses and care received during hospital stay

”In my role of Rapid Response Physiotherapist, I need to be aware of the patients’ weight bearing status in order to support them at home. Following an inpatient stay, the discharge summary would have previously been sent to the patient’s GP primarily, and then this would be visible to us with the share in place. However, with the Derbyshire Share Care Record being so easily accessible, the information is readily available including the discharge summary and relevant letters from orthopaedics for example. This means that I can ensure that the patient receives the relevant rehab support and care so that they can safely be supported to full weight bearing status”

“The DSCR can decrease the number of failed visits to the patient’s home due to them being admitted to Hospital, as this information is available by viewing the DSCR”

“The DSCR allows me to see a greater depth of information regarding the type of fracture and a more detailed view of clinicians input around this, I can also view any pending appointments in case the patient doesn’t cognitively pass on this information”

Rebecca Holmes – Rapid Response Physiotherapist

Setting: Respiratory Medicine                                                     

Health and Care Professional: Respiratory Specialist

Benefits:

  • Less duplication of effort for Specialist and GP
  • Patient identified for treatment and treatment commenced more quickly

“I work in Respiratory Medicine and when patients attend, they may not recall their medications and treatments exactly, medications which may have been tried over the years and the rationale behind the medications being started, used, or discontinued. The DSCR allows us to back up the patient’s version of the story and gives us insight into the collaboration of teams involved with the patient’s care and their input past and present”

“Within Respiratory Medicine, there are many different means of treatment and one of these is biologics. This is a specialist injectable treatment used alongside the patient’s regular medication, so a full and accurate record of the patient’s past and present medicines is essential to identify patients who are suitable for this treatment. The key piece of information required is the number of rescue prednisolone courses the patient has required and the dates these were issued. The criterion for biologics is based on the number of rescue steroids required in a 12-month period. Patients rarely remember the number of courses they have had or when. Using DSCR enables us to gain this vital information. Previously, a letter would be sent to the patient’s GP and the full medication history would be obtained this way, creating a wait”

“By using the DSCR, the delay of writing to the GP and the duplication of effort is reduced as the information is up to date and readily available for timely and informed decision making, which makes identifying patients for this type of treatment less complicated and this enables a more rapid treatment for this particular group of patients”

Respiratory Medicine University Hospitals of Derby and Burton

Setting: Pharmacy and Community Mental Health Team

Health and Care professional: Deputy Chief Pharmacist and Prescriber for Derbyshire Healthcare NHSFT

Benefits:

  • Ability to be able to check medications past and present.
  • Ability to see relevant blood tests relevant to care.
  • Allows informed and safe treatment.
  • Ability to assist on-call colleagues.

“I am a pharmacist and a prescriber. I work for Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, and I use the Derbyshire Shared Care Record for every patient. I can see current medications and previous medications, this helps to safely inform the next treatment options.”

“I can see when a patient has had blood tests to check their Lithium levels, or their kidney or thyroid function following treatment with certain medications so I can be sure that I am prescribing safely.”

“If I have concerns regarding a patient’s health or medication, I can check the DSCR to find a named Clinician or Pharmacist involved with the patient and this allows me to make direct contact, saving any delay. On occasion, patients are admitted to the ward having been prescribed special drugs, I can see from checking the DSCR where these were prescribed and by whom.”

“I have found the DSCR to be very helpful out of hours and over Bank Holidays. Information is readily available, and I have previously been able to advise on-call medics by checking patient information on the DSCR.”

Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust – Katherine, Deputy Chief Pharmacist and Prescriber

Setting: Adult Social Care (ASC) Derby City Council OT

Health and Social Care professional: Senior Occupational Therapist

Benefits: 

  • Visibility of other services involvement with citizen
  • Expedience and real-time approach to information gathering, enabling refined skills in clinical prioritisation.
  • Allows for timely interventions – reduced time spent waiting for callbacks from other teams/colleagues.

“I work as an Occupational Therapist in adult social care.  I am thrilled that we, as a team, now have access to the Derbyshire Share Care Record (DSCR).  Having personal experience of working in the NHS acute hospitals setting; local authority and the Primary Care Network (PCN), I am familiar with the various Case Record Management systems IT programmes – but having the ‘best of both worlds’ being able to access our own data in addition to our clinical colleagues is a massive leap forwards for our service delivery and citizens that we serve in Derby City.  Working in local authority; being able to view health data is immense.  

DSCR has been integrated into our local system and is user friendly and intuitive and gives real time events regarding multidisciplined care.   It’s very early days, but I have got nothing negative to say about this system.  When one system can talk to another, it streamlines communication as its evident which team is working with the citizen that you previously would have to chase for information – delaying interventions and prolonging the case, duplicating work – for what – the same outcome that we all want. 

A citizen referred to ASC for adaptations to her home; reducing mobility and multiple co-morbidities awaits assessment by our health colleagues in Tier 3 Bariatric services – Citizen presenting with complex denial about her functional disability.  I can, with her consent, scan DSCR for clinical developments in her referral and view other service involvement without having to ask her to duplicate information to aid my own OT assessment.  Reducing emotional and behavioural triggers for the citizen and streamlines service delivery with an outward impression that services communicate – ultimately aiding the citizen’s end goal. Being able to access records from partners such as Community Access Point, GP records and CMHT meant I was better equipped to understand the issues for this case – resulting in a personal approach which fed into the choice of interventions/equipment choices and care package.

ASC Derby City Council – Clare Carlier

Frequently asked questions

What is the DSCR?
The DSCR brings together information from Derbyshire NHS and Social Care organisations so that staff caring for a patient can see more information in one place. This is viewable by all health and social care staff in Derbyshire via their local systems.

How do I access the DSCR?
Staff can access the DSCR from their local systems when viewing a patient/citizen's record. A full list of systems can be found below. You should have received a welcome email from the DSCR Admin Team recently which provides further instructions.

Is there any training available on how to use the DSCR?
Visit the DSCR web page on the [insert organisation] intranet to view the available videos and look through the guides.

Do I have to enter information in to the DSCR?
No, currently the system is ‘read only’ to provide you with more information when caring for patients. You will continue to enter patient information in your local system as you do now.

If a patient asks to ‘opt out’ of having a DSCR record, what do I do?
Please direct the patient to the Joined Up Care Derbyshire website where more information is available on the DSCR and how to opt out of having a DSCR record.

Who do I contact with any queries about the DSCR?
There is a central email address - crhft.dscradmin@nhs.net – for any queries. If you can not access, then please contact the DSCR IT Desk instead at crhft.dscrservicedesk@nhs.net or call 01246 512646.

Please refer to this document for details on how to access the DSCR through your local system. For any questions, please contact: crhft.DSCRadmin@nhs.net.