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Council Praises the Benefits of Using Regional Shared Care Record Platform
Local authority staff in Doncaster are appreciating the benefits of using the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record, developed by Interweave. The wealth of information has been praised as “fabulous”.
City of Doncaster Council recently switched over to using the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record (YHCR), joining up information from across local authorities and NHS organisations across South Yorkshire.
The YHCR replaced their use of the Integrated Doncaster Care Record (iDCR) in the council as part of a programme converging shared care record platforms across the region. The YHCR securely connects records from hospitals, GPs, mental health services and social care providers, ensuring professionals have the most up-to-date information.
Josh Gillespie, who works as social work apprentice in the council’s Integrated Discharge Team, which helps support people to leave hospital and return home or to community settings, said: “We have been using the YHCR since the start of April (2025) and we are finding it much easier to use and source the information we need. The amount of information contained in the YHCR is fabulous and is already saving colleagues’ time in checking out what care and support a person has received from different services.
“One of the big benefits is that information in the YHCR is South Yorkshire-wide – we often work with people that are out of the Doncaster area so having sight of information from the rest of the region is a game changer.”
The South Yorkshire-wide adoption of the YHCR supports a standardised level of information being shared across the region so health and care professionals have the same experience whether they are working in the Doncaster, Barnsley, Rotherham or Sheffield areas. Furthermore, the YHCR brings together information on the health and care services that people have received not only in South Yorkshire but across the wider Yorkshire and Humber region. There is a wealth of data available in the YHCR that allows health and care professionals to provide more holistic assessments and care of an individual.
According to Josh, colleagues within the Integrated Discharge Team have already realised a number of benefits in using the YHCR, including:
- Seeing more detail in GP practice records, for example, being able to see whether a referral has been actioned, saving up to 45 minutes being on the phone per enquiry
- Having more information on medications – seeing directly what the GP has prescribed rather than being reliant on a response from the person’s carer or care home
- Having more information on appointments, for example, in making unannounced visits to care homes, team members can check if a person has an appointment before they arrive to avoid wasting time.
Josh added: “It is still early days but it is clear that the YHCR will help save a significant amount of staff time and improve the quality of care and support we can provide. We are keen to work with other individuals and teams across the council to increase usage of the platform and will be working with the programme team to stage more onboarding sessions.”
The YHCR, developed by Interweave, is being rolled out via the South Yorkshire Shared Care Record programme, part of the national Connecting Care Records initiative. Currently, there are 13 local NHS organisations and local authorities, as well as all GP practices, involved in advancing the programme in South Yorkshire, across the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield areas.