Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what progress they are making to facilitate data sharing between the NHS and the independent sector.

Information standards relating to information technology will enable the interoperability needed for information to be shared easily between the National Health Service and the independent sector.

The Health and Care Act 2022 made several changes to the information standard provisions of the 2012 act which will strengthen information standards for the health and adult social care system, including extending their scope to include private health and care providers and making compliance with standards mandatory. These provisions have now commenced.

The Single Patient Record will, in the future, be central to our vision for data within the NHS and social care. A seamlessly connected NHS where trusted data flows securely across all care settings, empowering patients, enabling clinicians with real-time insights, and unlocking breakthroughs in genomics, improve outcomes, and reduce inequalities. We will require public and private health and social care providers and their IT suppliers to share health and adult social care information with the Single Patient Record.