RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Primary care staff’s views and experience of patients’ online access to their electronic health record: a qualitative exploration
JF British Journal of General Practice
JO Br J Gen Pract
FD British Journal of General Practice
SP e418
OP e426
DO 10.3399/BJGP.2022.0436
VO 73
IS 731
A1 Davidge, Gail
A1 Brown, Lindsey
A1 Lyons, Moira
A1 Blease, Charlotte
A1 French, David
A1 van Staa, Tjeerd
A1 McMillan, Brian
YR 2023
UL http://bjgp.org/content/73/731/e418.abstract
AB Background NHS England have announced plans to enable all adult patients to have full prospective access to their primary care record by default. Despite this, little is known about the views and experiences of primary care staff regarding patients’ online records access (ORA).Aim To examine the views and experiences of primary care staff regarding patients having online access to their primary care health record, and how this service could be supported and improved.Design and setting A qualitative study of a purposive sample of 30 primary care staff in England.Method Online semi-structured interviews with primary care staff were conducted between December 2021 and March 2022. Verbatim transcripts were analysed inductively using thematic analysis.Results Most staff agreed with the principle of patient access to online health records but had mixed feelings regarding the potential benefits and drawbacks of applying this in practice. Staff identified opportunities for improving patient engagement, health literacy, and efficiencies in some administrative workloads, as well as concerns about maintaining the clinical integrity of patient records and ensuring that staff and patient safety and wellbeing are protected.Conclusion Participants acknowledged that ORA may transform the purpose and function of the record and that ORA has potential to instigate a significant cultural shift in primary care, changing how staff work and relate to patients. This underlines the need for additional staff training and support to expand capability and capacity to adapt practice and enhance patient engagement with, and understanding of, their health records.