London became the first to use the Health System Support Framework (HSSF) established by NHS England in January to run a regional Personal Health Record (PHR) procurement that was subsequently awarded to Patients Know Best.

HSSF provides NHS organisations with a quick and easy route to access support services from suppliers like PKB which are at the leading edge of health and care system reform.

The procurement award builds on the achievements of the Care Information Exchange (CIE) – the UK’s largest personal health record system, available for 2.4 million citizens in North West London (NWL) and provided by PKB. Now, the four other London regions can join the PKB network to exchange medical information with patients and professionals to transform the way patients interact with their health and care services.

On the announcement, Kevin Jarrold, Joint Chief Information Officer of North West London Health and Care Partnership, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Congratulations to Patients Know Best on achieving preferred supplier status. In North West London we are looking forward to working collaboratively with PKB to provide an exceptional personal health record service for our citizens.”

As the only system that can join up medical data from health or care institutions across all four nations, PKB offers patients a greater understanding of their health. This leads to more integrated care, better engagement, improved self-care and patient outcomes.

PKB has long advocated the need for this type of patient-centred approach in the UK health system. Dr Mohammad Al-Ubaydli, CEO and Founder of Patients Know Best, said:

“The NHS model of care has steadily moved towards supporting patients to self-assess and self-manage their health by redesigning pathways that enable people to stay at home and out of hospital if at all possible. During the pandemic we have seen how giving patients easy and secure digital access to their data including correspondence, test results and care plans, gives them a sense of ownership and empowers them with the information and tools to better take care of themselves. This improves their experience as a patient and enables the NHS to cope with the ever-increasing pressures it faces.”

He added: “This is the first big PHR procurement under the HSSF. It has been led by NWL and contributed to by all the Integrated Care Systems in London for our capital. The award follows PKB’s five-year journey and partnership with the fantastic team in North West London. We’re humbled to be awarded the procurement and thank NWL and all four other regions for sharing in the combined vision.”

Over recent years the PKB platform has evolved, becoming the most dynamic patient-held personal health record in Europe. In 2020, PKB became the first PHR to be integrated with the NHS App. This allows patients to access their data stored in PKB through the national health interface. Furthermore, an integration with NHS Login makes access and registration even more convenient for patients.

The contract award allows the remaining London regions to more easily procure the PKB PHR platform that already allows patients in NWL to seamlessly access their correspondence, appointments, test results, care plans, as well as exchange messages with their healthcare teams, record measurements, symptoms, medications, allergies, access tailored resources and keep a journal of their health. At the end of January, a new integration between PKB and Sevelec, facilitated by Westminster Council via the Pathfinders Project, also created an interoperable solution for integrating health and social care across the London regions.