Medical Records: Children

(asked on 26th April 2023) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adverse (1) costs, and (2) effectiveness, of NHS services for children as a result of the absence of a consistent child identifier.


Answered by
Lord Markham Portrait
Lord Markham
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 12th May 2023

No specific assessment has been made. Every child is assigned a National Health Service number at birth or the first time they have contact with NHS services. The NHS number acts as a unique patient identifier and is used to share information within electronic healthcare records. This contributes to improved health outcomes for children by ensuring that health professionals identify patients correctly and have access to information to inform the delivery of appropriate care.

Reticulating Splines