Improving how we use data and increasing digitally enabled care.
Increasing the use of digital technology and innovation can have real benefits for our population.
It can help to prevent ill health, promote self-care and deliver the best treatments.
How data is collected
Data is collected every time you are in contact with a health and care organisation.
Your contact details, information about your NHS appointments, and the medicines or treatments you receive are all examples of data.
This information is vital in helping doctors, nurses and other health and care professionals make choices about your care. However, you can manage the consent you give and your privacy to stay in control.
Through our work to share information, such as the Share for Care and apps for residents to access their own health and care records, residents and health and social care professionals benefit.
Improved access to data can result in increased life expectancy and healthy life expectancy. It can also help to improve a person’s wellbeing and reduce health inequalities.
Our data and digital work means residents should have a better experience of health and care services. Health and social care professionals will also benefit.
Residents will:
- only need to provide basic information, such as their name and address, once rather than having to repeat it for different systems
- get fewer assessments and tests
- receive reminders to book check-ups, vaccinations or to attend health appointments
- receive support to manage their own care. This will be done through better access to health and care services, peer support or social prescribing
- access their own data and manage consent and privacy
Health and social care professionals can:
- access live information about a patient’s clinical history, enabling them to make the right decision at the right time
- provide more personalised care
- have a joined-up view of a residents’ care. They can see appointments, hospital admissions or access to social care or mental health services in one place
- improve care planning, scheduling and reduce delays
Data Strategy
Our Data Strategy sets out the journey that will take us through to 2024.
Patients will have an improved level of health data available to them. This will be done through rolling out our Shared Health and Care Record. Improvements will also be made to the way we analyse and report data.
The Data Strategy will help to identify those people with greater health and social care needs. It will also support self-care and make care more tailored to the individual.
Population Health Management
Population Health Management is a new approach which helps us understand people’s health and care needs and how they are likely to change in the future.
It helps us to use data and expertise from councils, health providers, the voluntary sector and local communities in BLMK will help us to make positive changes.
It allows us to design community-focused, proactive care and deliver improvements in health and wellbeing, making best use of our collective resources.
Public Health Management allows us to focus more clearly on the needs of the population. It helps to improve resident’s personal wellbeing and provide a healthier, happier and fairer place to live and work.
Population Health Management underpins all of the five Health and Care Partnership priorities:
It will help:
- clinicians to better understand current and future population health needs
- deliver more proactive personalised health and care for people with long term conditions
- health and care providers focus on where they can deliver better health, care and wellbeing for residents
- improve contact between GPs and voluntary and community organisations, with joined-up support for specific patient groups
- inform the development of our Shared Health and Care Record
Digitising Social Care Programme
New technology is helping to change the face of social care for people across Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, to improve care and enable people to stay independent in their own home for as long as possible. Read more about the work we are doing as part of the Digitising Social Care (DiSC) Programme.
