Integration poor for electronic records

Integration between the various electronic systems for social care and health is poor and areas are pursuing different solutions, which is leading to duplication, a government report has claimed.

The report followed a survey on the electronic single assessment process (e-SAP) for older people, which is being led by NHS IT agency Connecting for Health.

Under e-SAP, social care and health practitioners provide integrated assessment and review for older people. These are electronically recorded so they can be shared. But the report, produced by Connecting for Health’s e-SAP project, found few areas had integrated e-SAP with other systems, such as the electronic social care record.

Meanwhile, the October 2006 target for councils to ensure all current cases are covered by the electronic social care record looks set to be dropped, to stop authorities following different implementation paths.