NHS Modernisation Bill promises single patient record by 2028

The government will join up health and social care records in a single patient record (SPR) within the next couple of years.

As announced in the King’s Speech last week (11 May), the NHS Modernisation Bill aims to improve care for patients through investment and modernisation. This includes abolishing NHS England, developing a Patient Experience Directorate, giving more responsibility to integrated care boards and the roll-out of the SPR.  

According to the King’s Speech briefing notes, the bill will “enhance patient safety and experience through a new single patient record, enabling joined-up proactive care and empowering patients”.

The SPR will enable the NHS to bring together patients' health and social care records into one place to improve patient safety and experience, according to the briefing notes, which stated: “It will enable people to see their own health records securely on the NHS App, empowering them to make informed decisions about their own health.”

The government envisions beginning piloting the SPR with maternity and frailty care by 2028 before rolling it out across the NHS. Clinicians will begin to get access to joined-up records as early as 2027 in some specialities.

Health minister Karin Smyth, who took over the role earlier this month after former minister Wes Streeting resigned, said the SPR will allow patients to have “real control” over their care.

“It will be a gamechanger that means NHS staff can see patients’ medical records, allowing them to deliver better care faster and more conveniently, and even saving lives,” she said. “We will also strip back bureaucracy by abolishing NHS England, empowering frontline staff as part of our 10-Year Health Plan.”

The idea of a single record across health and social care has featured in several NHS plans over the past decade, most recently in the 10-Year Health Plan which was launched in July 2025. The record will work as an NHS patient passport, ensuring information across services is available in one place. Healthcare providers will also have a statutory duty to make information held about a patient available to them.

Commenting on Alec Price-Forbes, national chief clinical information officer (CCIO) at NHS England, said: “The Single Patient Record will revolutionise patient care – giving all health and care professionals across the country a detailed record of a patient’s care in one place.

“For too long, patient information has been held in silos, leading to patients having to repeat their story multiple times in different care settings, creating the potential for duplication or gaps in understanding by those treating them – and understandable frustrations and a poor experience for patients.”

The government is also working to create a digitally enabled Neighbourhood Health Service, which will allow people to use the NHS App to communicate with healthcare professionals, share data, receive advice and self-refer to appropriate services.

The government will also replace two-thirds of outpatient appointments with automated information and digital artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled advice, aiming to save the £14bn a year currently spent on outpatient appointments.