News & Blog

Landmark Moment for Sheffield City Council in Roll‑Out of the Shared Care Record

Interweave are proud to announce that Sheffield City Council is the first local authority to go live in the South Yorkshire region with the Yorkshire and Humber Care Record (YHCR).

When fully implemented, it will mean people living in the city will receive better, safer care and treatment, thanks to the introduction of joined-up health and care records.

The YHCR is bringing together people’s separate records into a structured, easy-to-read format. This gives health and care professionals directly involved in an individual’s care a more complete view of the care and treatment that an individual has received across all services.

The first teams to receive training and support within Sheffield City Council on using the YHCR have been the First Contact and Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) teams.

Jack Cook, a social worker in the First Contact duty team, said: “The shared care record has proved to be an invaluable resource for our duty team working at the front door of adult social care. It has saved our time having to contact GP surgeries for information and has even resulted in safe and well visits being averted due to us being able to see a patient has visited their GP recently.”

Jill Wetherall, service manager of MASH, added: “The shared care record gives a holistic view of the partners involved in the adult’s care and wellbeing. Timely access to this information enables us to implement an immediate protection plan with the professionals involved, to promote the adult’s safety. The South Yorkshire Shared Care Record programme champions excellent partnership working, which enhances safeguarding. Improved communication leads to better outcomes for the adults we serve.”

In a survey of City Council staff who had used the platform, the highest ranked benefits were improved access to information, improved care and safety and an increased efficiency in daily tasks.

The YHCR allows for information recorded about someone’s health and care such as illnesses, treatments and hospital admissions to be accessed by different people who are involved in their care. Currently, different hospitals, GPs and other health and care workers record separate pieces of information, which are not always shared. This can cause care and treatment delays, with organisations having to forward important facts by phone, email or paper. Shared care records enable the most up-to-date information to be available at any time they are needed.

The YHCR is being rolled out via the South Yorkshire Shared Care Record (SYSCR) programme, part of the national Connecting Care Records initiative. Currently, there are 13 local NHS organisations and local authorities involved in advancing the programme in South Yorkshire, across the Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield areas.

Katie Dowson, SYSCR programme director, said: “The YHCR is making information available at the touch of a button to health and care professionals who are providing direct care for an individual. Professionals can then make better-informed decisions that will improve outcomes for those receiving care.

“We are very pleased as a programme team to see this landmark moment achieved in Sheffield City Council. We would also like to thank everyone involved in the City Council who has been working with us to implement the YHCR.”

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