Frequently asked questions

Clinicians and social work professionals working for local health and care organisations will be able to use the Birmingham and Solihull Shared Care Record to see your records.

Currently, the organisations involved are:

• GP practices in Birmingham and Solihull
• Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
• Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust (including Forward Thinking Birmingham)
• Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust
• The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Birmingham City Council
• Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
• Birmingham Children’s Trust
• West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust

Some of their administrative and secretarial staff will also be able to see information so they can support the professionals. An example would be to send you an appointment letter.

Health and care organisations in the neighbouring areas of Coventry and Warwickshire, and Herefordshire and Worcestershire will be able to view your information for the purpose of giving you direct care should it be necessary.

The NHS and local councils in Birmingham and Solihull own and are responsible for the Shared Care Record.

There are a number of reasons. For instance:

• You won’t have to repeat your details every time you need care.
• Clinicians will be able to see what medications you’re taking and if you have any allergies, making your treatment safer.
• They’ll also be able to make better decisions about your care by knowing your recent history – things such as tests, scans, results and prescriptions.
• You won’t have to explain your social care support to health professionals.
• You’ll get more efficient treatment because clinicians won’t have to wait for other organisations to forward your information by letter or phone.

The Shared Care Record is local. But similar approaches to enabling health and care organisations to see information needed for people’s care are also happening in other parts of the country.

They’ll all have their own separate records about the treatment or care you’ve had from them. So, for instance, your GP will have information, while any hospital where you’ve had treatment will have its own. It’s the same across all the services that have cared for you.

Now though, as most of these records are electronic, we can start to bring them together. By letting the people involved in your care see the bigger picture, you’ll get better care.

If you’re registered with a GP practice in Birmingham (excluding west Birmingham) and Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire, or Herefordshire and Worcestershire then you will be included.

Anyone registered outside this area will need to contact their GP to see if they’re included in a different programme.

As we now have the capability to include the details of people under the age of 18, their records will also be available for health and social work professionals to view through the Shared Care Record.

We won’t sell your information or give it to anyone who shouldn’t have it.

The NHS and local councils are bound by data protection laws to make sure they keep safe all information they hold on you. They take this duty very seriously – and not just at the highest level of their organisation.

They train all their staff to understand their personal responsibilities under the law when it comes to your records. Staff must also follow the NHS and local council codes of conduct on respecting your privacy and keeping your information safe.

You can find out more about how the NHS looks after your health records on the NHS website. You can do the same for social care records by visiting the Birmingham City Council and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council websites.

Data protection laws give you the right to see any information that organisations like the NHS and local councils hold on you.

Whether paper, electronic or a combination of the two, you just need to ask the organisation involved. You can find out how by looking at the Fair Processing Notice or Privacy Notice on their website.

There are some pieces of information that won’t be available to view through the Shared Care Record. Things, for instance, such as visits to sexual health clinics, any fertility treatment records, and those about gender reassignment.

We have a data sharing agreement to make sure this kind of information is not included, in line with legal and statutory requirements, and concerns around sensitivity.

Yes, you have the right to object at any time if you are 16 years of age or older.

From the age of 13 to 16, we will consider your right to object if your form has been signed on your behalf by someone with parental responsibility.

If it has not, we will ask a recognised health or social work professional if they consider you to be competent to make such a decision.

If you are under the age of 13, we will only consider your right to object if your form has been signed on your behalf by someone with parental responsibility.

However, we don’t recommend objecting. If you do object, each organisation will only see electronic information recorded on its own system. Anything needed from other services as part of your own, or your child’s direct care or treatment will be forwarded through traditional methods such as phone, email or letter – as it is now.

Please consider carefully before objecting as it could mean vital information about you or your child is not immediately available when either you or they need health or social care support.

If you want to object, you can do so by visting the right to object section, where you can also find more information.

Councils provide social care to help meet the needs of vulnerable people living within their area, including people needing practical help and support because of illness, disability or age. Social work professionals are the only council staff able to use the Birmingham and Solihull Shared Care Record. They do this to help assess people and provide them with care.

Please see our privacy notice section for details of what health and social work professionals will be able to see.