NHS interoperability

The shared care record, accessed from the patient record, without the phone call.

Ameryst has accredited access to NHS shared records, with live Shared Care Record connections already running, and new ones set up when a customer reaches agreement with their ICB. Staff see current information without having to  chase a surgery for a letter.

How it works

Two capabilities, both built and both in use.

Accredited access to NHS shared records, and direct connections already running.

1Accredited access

Accredited access to NHS shared records.

In place and in use since 2020.

2Shared Care Records

Live connections already running.

New ones set up for new agreements.

3In the record, not in another system

Care record information accessed directly from the patient record.

Nobody signs into a second system to see it.

Which means a nurse looking at a patient record can see the shared care record information without opening a second system or ringing a surgery.

For when it matters

Real-time access to NHS records.

  • Less chasing, more care. Hospice, neuro-disability, complex nursing and mental health services spend real time chasing GPs and hospitals for current information. Removing that chase saves valuable staff time, freeing teams to focus on people referred to the service and helping to reduce waiting times at referral.
In the module

What NHS interoperability covers

Accredited NHS access

To NHS shared records

Shared Care Records

Connections across the UK

Current medication

Available when the staff need the information

Allergies from the GP

Alongside what your own team recorded

Service Discovery

Showing what services are connected with your patient

Full GP record

Medication, diagnoses and history, not a summary

Permissioned

Like every other part of the record

Time back

No chasing letters for information that exists

Why it matters

What a live NHS connection is worth

Patient safety

Out-of-date information is a clinical risk, not an inconvenience

A medication changed at a hospital appointment three weeks ago, sitting in a letter that has not arrived yet, is the kind of gap that causes harm. Reading the current GP record inside the care record closes it — and removes the phoning, chasing and waiting that staff have had to do.

Cost & financial control

Hours that were spent chasing

Customers report substantial time savings, because the work being removed is the work of finding out what somebody else already knows.

Compliance & governance

A defensible answer on information

Accredited access to NHS shared records, rather than a folder of PDFs, is the answer to an information governance question, not a marketing line.

Patient outcomes

Decisions made on current facts

Care planned against what is true today rather than what was true when the last letter was written.

How a record is retrieved

Four steps, and none of them is a phone call.

01

The person is matched

Against their NHS record

02

The record is requested

Under accredited access to NHS shared records

03

It appears in Ameryst

Inside the care record, read-only

04

Staff act on current facts

Rather than on the last letter received

Staff see the current GP record where they are already working, so the decision in front of them rests on the same information the GP holds.

Questions services ask about NHS interoperability

What are you connected to?
Ameryst has accredited access to NHS shared records, live since 2020, with direct connections already running. Where a new customer is in an area we have not yet connected to, we work with the ICB or Health Board along with the customer to set up access. Tell us where you are and we will talk you through what it takes.
What does a nurse actually see?
The patient's shared care record, retrieved from the source at the moment it is opened: medication, diagnoses, allergies and treatment history. It appears next to the Ameryst record, so someone checking details before a visit is not signing into a second system or waiting on a letter to arrive.
Is the NHS data live or a copy?
It is retrieved from the source rather than stored as a stale copy, and shown read-only next to your patient record. It sits alongside what your own team has recorded rather than overwriting it, so the NHS view and your own view stay distinct and it is always clear which is which.
Does this matter for our sector?
It matters most where your people move between your service and the NHS. Hospice, neuro-disability, complex nursing and mental health services deal with GPs and hospitals constantly, so seeing the current record removes a daily round of chasing. Tell us how your service works and we will show you the parts that carry the most weight for you.

See it working with your own service in mind.

Half an hour or an hour, whichever suits. We’ll spend it on the parts that matter to your service.