Northamptonshire expands access to vital care planning information through NHS National Record Locator

Patients receiving urgent or emergency care away from home could benefit from faster access to important treatment recommendations and care preferences following a significant step forward in the way vital care planning information is shared across the NHS.

Integrated Care Northamptonshire has expanded access to digital ReSPECT plans and Electronic Palliative Care Coordination System (EPaCCS) records through the NHS National Record Locator (NRL), helping authorised clinicians identify and securely access important care planning information wherever patients receive treatment across England.

The latest milestone builds on Northamptonshire's wider digital transformation programme, which recently saw the county ranked as England's most digitally mature integrated care system by NHS England. It also extends the reach of the Northamptonshire Care Record, provided by Graphnet Health, enabling important care planning information to be located beyond local health and care organisations when patients receive treatment elsewhere in the NHS.

Alongside the National Record Locator rollout, Northamptonshire has now created more than 12,000 live ReSPECT plans, reflecting a major programme of work to embed digital emergency care planning across the county.

A key part of that success has been close collaboration with University Hospitals of Northamptonshire to replace traditional paper Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR) forms with digital ReSPECT plans. Rather than different organisations holding separate records, ReSPECT now provides a single, consistent record for CPR decisions and emergency treatment recommendations, helping reduce the risk of important information not being available when patients move between services.

The NHS National Record Locator does not create a new national patient record or store information in a central database. Instead, it enables authorised health and care professionals to identify where important information is already held and securely access it when required, ensuring clinicians can quickly locate the information they need without duplicating existing records.

For patients, this means that if they require urgent or emergency care away from the team normally responsible for their treatment, clinicians may be able to access previously agreed treatment recommendations, care preferences and other important clinical information that could help inform decisions at the point of care.

A ReSPECT (Recommended Summary Plan for Emergency Care and Treatment) plan records conversations between patients and healthcare professionals about what matters most to them, including recommendations for emergency treatment, care preferences and decisions about cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), where appropriate.

EPaCCS, the Electronic Palliative Care Coordination System, enables health and care organisations to record and securely share key information about people who may be approaching the last year of life, including their wishes, priorities and other important clinical information. Making both ReSPECT and EPaCCS records available through the National Record Locator helps ensure that vital information can be found quickly by authorised clinicians, supporting more coordinated and personalised care.

For example, if an ambulance crew responds to a 999 call or a patient is admitted to an emergency department while away from home, clinicians may be able to access information about previously agreed treatment recommendations, preferred place of care and other important clinical decisions. Having this information available at the point of care can help clinicians make more informed decisions while reducing the need for patients and families to repeat difficult conversations during already stressful situations.

Matthew Hutton, Digital Lead at Integrated Care Northamptonshire, said:

The National Record Locator helps us ensure that important care planning information can be accessed by the right professionals at the right time, wherever patients receive care.

Alongside this, we've worked closely with colleagues across Northamptonshire, including University Hospitals of Northamptonshire, to make ReSPECT the single place where CPR decisions and emergency care recommendations are recorded. That has enabled us to create more than 12,000 live ReSPECT plans across the county, helping ensure clinicians are working from the same, up-to-date information and reducing the risk of important decisions not being shared.

By making ReSPECT and EPaCCS information more visible across the NHS, we can support better coordinated care and help ensure that people's wishes are understood and respected, particularly in urgent and emergency situations.

The latest milestone forms part of Northamptonshire's continuing investment in connected digital care. Through the Northamptonshire Care Record, more than 800,000 people's health and care information can already be accessed securely by authorised professionals across the county, helping reduce duplication, improve coordination and support faster clinical decision-making.

Making ReSPECT and EPaCCS records available through the National Record Locator extends those benefits beyond local organisational boundaries, ensuring important care planning information can be located wherever patients receive NHS care.

Patients remain in control of how their information is shared. Anyone who does not wish their ReSPECT or EPaCCS information to be available through the National Record Locator can discuss this with their GP practice and submit a formal objection.