Minister proposes electronic records

An NHS-style electronic record for social services clients could be introduced in Wales, according to the Welsh health minister.

Dr Brian Gibbons said information collected through the unified assessment process (UAP) – used by health and care professionals to assess adult clients’ needs – could be stored on a national database.

The UAP, which has been rolled out across Wales over the past two years, was initially a paper-based process but some authorities have started to record data on computers.

An overhaul of the UAP was a key proposal in the assembly government’s 10-year draft social services strategy.

Gibbons said the database would work like the NHS patient record in that information would be stored on a secure website.

In England, NHS IT agency Connecting for Health is developing a national framework for implementing an electronic single assessment process for older people.

Gibbons has also launched a review of the skills needed to work in Wales’s children and adult social care services. He said the social care sector skills review, which covers staff in direct care settings, was needed to address “widespread skills gaps” in the workforce.

The review is out to consultation until 3 November.