Jersey GP records to be shared

Medical records kept by Jersey GPs could be available to other medical practitioners after a £1m overhaul of the record system.

Currently only GPs at a patient's registered surgery can access their information.

All 15 island surgeries have signed up for the project, which will move data from the practices to a central store.

Patients would need to give permission for their records to be accessed by other health services.

Initially the records would only be accessible when patients visited a different surgery or the GP Out of Hours Service.

'Confidential and secure'

The aim of the project, due to be up and running in July, is to reduce the risk of incorrect diagnosis or prescriptions.

Dr Nigel Minihane, chair of the Primary Care Body which represents all Jersey GPs, said: "Medical records remain confidential and secure.

"Patients will always be asked before their details are accessed and they have the right to stop all or part of their medical history being shared with other medical professionals."

In the future the system may be extended to the General Hospital's Emergency Department and other local primary care services.

The Health and Social Services Department also aims to use the information in the future to gather statistical information about conditions, for example the number of people with diabetes.

However, it said this would not include access to personal information.