To be accurate, LPRES is a shared care viewer- looking at patient information that is recorded in trust, GP. and social services systems. In some future nirvana, the trust shared care record will arrive when all clinical and medical procedures agree on a standard set of codes ( and even a standard way to capture and store patient details).

In the world of healthcare technology, innovation, and progress are constant. Companies are always seeking to improve their products and services to remain competitive and relevant. Despite this, certain companies persist in the market despite not always offering the most utilised or cost-effective Shared Care Record solution. These companies are often very familiar, having been around for many years and having built up a strong brand image.

Over recent times numerous articles have been written on the benefits of the Shared Care Record (SCR), and each and every time, the same regional solutions and their preferred vendors are cited. Now I’m not denigrating the fantastic success that each of these solutions brings to their clinicians or patients, but I want to state there are alternatives out there in the market, and some of these alternatives are bringing outstanding benefits to Patients and Clinicians.

For example, Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB services approximately 1.7 Million residents. Although rarely cited (if ever) in articles, they consistently lead the published NHS statistical ranks for delivering the country’s most utilised Shared Care Record. For example, their SCR contains a total of 11.1M documents, with a further 310’000 published every month. In January 2023, the 14’000+ users made 2.4M views of clinical data. And yes, they share data between, Acutes, Mental Health, Charities, GPs, Social Care, and Nursing Homes, and yes, they also have cross-regional functionality. Yes, I know they are just statistics, and thank you, Mark Twain, we know, ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.’ Nevertheless, they are pretty convincing statistics.

Lancashire & South Cumbria ICB achieved this with a small group of dedicated individuals and a restricted financial envelope. Working with their Shared Care Record provider and Stakeholders, they work in partnership to ensure they retain financial visibility, which is predictable and transparent while creating a sustainable future.

So! Maybe the next time an article is written on the Shared Care Record, I suggest the author makes a call to those who consistently deliver the most value of any ICB SCR in the country. Lancashire & South Cumbria, take a bow!