NHS England has set out a plan for an electronic patient record (EPR) to support healthcare in the justice system.
It has published an early engagement notice for potential suppliers, saying the EPR will cover prisons, youth referral services, detained estates and asylum seeker detention centres.
It has also emphasised that the project is in the early stages of development and that it wants to assess the interest from potential suppliers.
The plan responds to an element of the NHS England digital strategy that aims to remove gaps in the digital integration of healthcare in prisons.
Equitable access
The notice sets out a requirement for an electronic care record system the provides equitable access to health records while having interoperability with broader primary care electronic systems and other existing technology.
It will also have to include data analysis tools, provide a safe approach to managing health records, and the supplier will have to provide insights into future developments to improve the system’s functionality.
NHS England has commissioning responsibility for healthcare in all detained estates within England. In 2002 it published a framework for integration aimed at tacking health inequality of people in the criminal justice system, which includes the development of shared care records and interoperability as a key consideration for integrated care boards.
