Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve cross communication between NHS organisations.

The Government is committed to harnessing technology and modernising the health system by shifting from analogue to digital, including through streamlined data sharing to improve communication across National Health Service organisations.

Regulations have been introduced in Parliament to establish the process for preparing and publishing information standards which will be mandatory for public and private health and adult social care providers. Information standards allow for interoperability between systems, and for information to be shared easily between the systems in different organisations, to improve outcomes for patients.

We have also announced the development of a single patient record which will give professionals in different services access to patient information they need to make the best-informed decisions when delivering care and treatment.