Primary care staff's views and experience of patients' online access to their electronic health record: a qualitative exploration

Background NHS England have announced plans to enable all adult patients to have full prospective access to their primary care record by default. Despite this, little is known about the views and experiences of primary care staff regarding patients online records access (ORA). Aim To examine the views and experiences of primary care staff regarding patients having online access to their primary care health record, and how this service could be supported and improved. Design and setting A qualitative study of a purposive sample of 30 primary care staff in England. Method Online semi-structured interviews with primary care staff were conducted between December 2021 and March 2022. Verbatim transcripts were analysed inductively using thematic analysis. Results Most staff agreed with the principle of patient access to online health records but had mixed feelings regarding the potential benefits and drawbacks of applying this in practice. Staff identified opportunities for improving patient engagement, health literacy, and efficiencies in some administrative workloads, as well as concerns about maintaining the clinical integrity of patient records and ensuring that staff and patient safety and wellbeing are protected. Conclusion Participants acknowledged that ORA may transform the purpose and function of the record and that ORA has potential to instigate a significant cultural shift in primary care, changing how staff work and relate to patients. This underlines the need for additional staff training and support to expand capability and capacity to adapt practice and enhance patient engagement with, and understanding of, their health records.

Automated summary

This study examined the views and experiences of primary care staff in England regarding patients' online access to their health records. Most staff supported the principle of patient access, but had mixed feelings about the potential benefits and drawbacks in practice. They identified opportunities to improve patient engagement, health literacy, and administrative efficiencies, but also expressed concerns about maintaining clinical integrity and ensuring safety and wellbeing.