The team behind the Coordinate My Care (CMC) digital care record has begun a push to encourage its take-up by care homes in London.
The service enables patients to indicate their preferences for care in an emergency, such as resuscitation status, along with any diagnoses and medications.
A spokesperson for CMC, which is hosted by the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, said it is already used by some care homes but that that the trust said it is beginning to promote it to more with the offer of training. This comes in response to increased anxieties around future care caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We know that care homes have been hugely challenged during this pandemic and that many patients and their families have expressed great anxiety and concern relating to future care, challenging decisions and uncertainty relating to appropriate care and treatment,” the service said.
The care plans are created through an online questionnaire, which is sent to the relevant GP practice for approval. It then becomes available to NHS 111, out-of-hours GPs, ambulance services and hospital emergency departments.
Patient led
The spokesperson said it is patient led, but that details can be provided through patients’ families or friends or care homes that have signed up under a strict consent model.
The move follows the recent award of £200,000 by NHS Digital to the NHS Health Innovation Network to work with London’s sustainability and transformation partnerships to increase the usage of CMC in the city.
Image by Matt Madd, CC BY 2.0
Amended 12 January on clarification of role of Royal Marsden NHS Trust
