The pros and cons of single patient records

When you’re rushed to hospital, healthcare professionals don’t always have access to your full medical history. But this information could be critical to your care – and even your survival. Existing conditions, medications and allergies can all influence care decisions – especially in emergency situations.

Under the government’s plans for a single patient record, this and other medical information would be available to not only hospitals but also GP surgeries, midwives, paramedics and other health and social care professionals. Although sharing data could improve the quality and efficiency of NHS services, the plans have prompted concerns about patient privacy.

The proposals, which are part of the NHS Modernisation Bill, were debated in Parliament by MPs in early June 2026 as part of the second reading. In this blog, we look at the pros and cons of single patient records and what they could mean for you and your loved ones when receiving NHS care.

How do single patient records work?

At present, the majority of patient records are held separately by different NHS organisations, which means, for example, that a hospital consultant can’t see what medications have been prescribed by your GP.

With a single digital patient record, fragmented NHS data would be shared and stored centrally. This would provide a complete view of an individual’s medical history, which could be accessed quickly and easily regardless of where they are being treated.

This means patients would not have to re-explain their health background when attending NHS appointments, which can be distressing. For example, pregnant women currently have to repeat their entire medical history at their first midwife appointment due to a lack of record sharing.

What are the benefits of single patient records?

Safer, quicker and more accurate healthcare is the big ticket benefit of single patient records, according to the government. Let’s look at what that means in reality.

You’ve visited your GP a couple of times due to chest pain. Despite taking various medications, you still feel unwell and go to A&E. When you arrive, the clinicians check your GP’s notes and realise that you’ve not been tested for lung cancer. Without access to this information, your cancer diagnosis might have been further delayed or missed entirely.

Our medical negligence team have seen too often how the right information at the right time could have made a difference to patient outcomes and even prevented unnecessary deaths. They have found it can be particularly relevant in emergency cases where the histology has an impact on the emergency medicine – for example a suspected heart attack, where symptoms previously reported to the GP are indicative of a heart problem, and if known would have led to prioritizing ECG as opposed to urine samples for an infection, possibly preventing the death.

Attendance to A&E with nausea and vomiting ,  GP records noting previous attendances with back pain , abdominal pain and constipation , may have led to earlier detection of a bowel obstruction .  

As well as saving lives, single patient records are expected to save money. The Department of Health and Social Care predicts that more joined-up patient information and care could help save the NHS at least £20 million a year by reducing medication errors and adverse drug reactions, which can result in costly medical negligence cases.

It has also published projections suggesting that there could be up to 20,000 fewer A&E visits and 6,000 fewer admissions a year thanks to single patient records and other reforms to NHS treatment.

Will data stored in single patient records be secure?

Privacy and confidentiality concerns relating to single patient records have been raised not just by MPs but also professional groups, such as the British Medical Association.

Medical data is often highly sensitive and could be misused if accessed by unauthorised individuals, such as hackers. However, the government has pledged that the new records will be subject to strong cyber security protections as well as stringent access permissions to ensure only relevant staff can view patient data.

As our lives become increasingly digitalised, there’s always a risk of our data being leaked or misused. When it comes to medical records, these risks need to be balanced with the lifelong impact of a missed or delayed diagnosis or receiving fragmented or negligent care.

What happens next?

Somehospitals and GP practices can already share and access limited patient data; expanding this across all NHS providers and professionals in England and Wales could be highly complex.

The government, however, has announced an ambitious timeline. It hopes clinicians will benefit from improved access to records as early as 2027 for certain specialties, such as maternity care. Meanwhile, patients could be able to view their central record through the NHS App from 2028. The Bill needs to pass through several more stages before it becomes law, so the plans and timings could change.

If you or a loved one has received sub-standard care or been misdiagnosed due to a lack of medical information, then you might be entitled to damages. Our specialist medical negligence team can help establish if you have a case and support your compensation claim. Book an initial free consultation on enquiries@attwaters.co.uk or 0330 221 8855.