You’ll soon be able to access parts of your health record, including hospital letters, via a free online portal.
The Patient Knows Best (PKB) service is already being used by some of our patients, in Cardiology, but will now be rolled out to patients being treated in other specialties and departments from 7 August.
Designed to improve your experience, PKB lets you view appointment dates and times and provides you with access to your hospital letters all from your computer, smartphone or tablet.
Patients will be able to see discharge and outpatient summaries which are letters that are sent following a stay in hospital or an outpatient appointment. Allowing patients to access this information online will not only be more convenient for patients but it will save the Trust money on printing and postage too.
With PKB you can also share all, or specific parts of your record, with anyone involved in your care – for example, carers, family members or healthcare professionals.
The service also provides tools to help you understand and monitor your condition from the comfort of your own home by tracking your symptoms.
Jackie France, Associate Director for Patient Services, said: “By giving patients access to some of their hospital records online they’ll no longer need to request copies of clinic letters. They’ll be able to see everything in one place, and also benefit from additional features, as they become available, such as being able to track and monitor their own symptoms – empowering patients to better manage their own health conditions.
“This will be a gradual rollout so we’re first giving access to hospital appointment data, outpatient summary letters and discharge summaries. As the project progresses we hope to be able to give access to test results and enable patients to read supporting information about their condition. Those signing up will find that they’ll be able to see information from other local healthcare providers they’re receiving treatment from too.”
Patients can read more about PKB, and register, via www.nlg.nhs.uk/patients/PKB This service is available for over 16’s only and you will only be able to see data that is processed once you’ve registered, not historic data.