The purpose of this survey is to make you aware of the Birmingham and Solihull Health Information Exchange (HIE) which is due to go live shortly.  This survey gives you the opportunity to feed back to us on any questions/concerns you have around the HIE. 

You can also register your interest in being involved with the HIE as a critical friend – providing feedback and being involved in further surveys as the HIE develops.  This will help us to ensure that the HIE delivers the best solution for the people of Birmingham and Solihull.

It should take about 10 minutes to read the background on the HIE and then another 10 minutes to fill in the survey. 

Your feedback is really important to us and will help us to develop a Health Information Exchange which reflects the needs and expectations of the people of Birmingham and Solihull.

Dr James Reed
Chief Clinical Information Officer, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust
Clinical lead for the HIE

Closing date for responses: 4 January 2021
Context
Ever wondered why, when you visit your GP or hospital, they can’t see all your health and care information? And why you find yourself having to answer the same old questions over and over – about things like the medicines you take, the treatment you’ve had, and whether or not you have any allergies?

Well, the simple answer is they all use different computer systems to record your details. And because these systems aren’t connected, the health and care organisations looking after you can’t share your information with each other.

But that’s about to change with the introduction of something called the Birmingham and Solihull Health Information Exchange – or HIE.

Our experience of working with COVID-19 has shown how important it is for the health and care professionals caring for a person to be able to see their information without delay. HIE will make a joined-up approach to health and care much more possible.

What is the HIE?
The Health Information Exchange is an electronic record of a person’s care. The difference between this and what already exists is that it will bring together all your separate records into a structured, easy-to-read format.

This will give those professionals directly involved in your care a more complete view of the care and treatment you’ve had across all services. 

We know you only want to tell your story and share information once when receiving care from any health or social care organisation across Birmingham and Solihull. That’s why we’ve developed the HIE.

Who will be able to look at my information – and what will they see?
The first phase of the Health Information Exchange will allow health and care professionals directly involved in your care to view appropriate information contained in:
  • your GP practice medical record
  • basic information from secondary care, including hospitals, mental health and community services
  • radiology and pathology results
  • maternity records.
Being able to see this information will help them give you the best care as quickly as possible without having to make phone calls or wait for other organisations to forward details on.

At first, we’ll bring together information from GPs and allow it to be seen by health professionals in the Emergency Departments at hospitals. If needed, we’ll also share it with the Nightingale Hospital (the hospital set up to help manage COVID-19).

We’ll add information from community and social care, ambulance and NHS 111 services over time. We’ll carry on developing the HIE, allowing professionals across more health and social care settings to see information when they need it to support people’s care.

You can rest assured we’ll only allow your records to be seen by health and social care professionals directly involved in your care.
 
There are strict rules around how we use your information. As part of this work, we’ll make sure it’s managed and shared appropriately and in line with all legal requirements, including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. Official inspections, or audits, will check this is the case.
How does having my records shared benefit me?
The benefits to you include:
  • not having to repeat your details every time you need care
  • better and, potentially, faster treatment as the professionals caring for you will be able to quickly see your records
  • not having to explain your social care support to health professionals
  • clinicians being able to see what medications you’re taking, what you’ve taken in the past, and if you have any allergies – making your treatment safer
  • more effective treatment should you need care for COVID-19, thanks to the fast availability of accurate information about any pre-existing conditions you might have and your medications.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
 You’ll find more information in the frequently asked questions. These will give you answers to some of the things you might still want to ask. They’ll also cover new developments with the HIE as and when they happen, explaining what these mean for you. We’ll post any new questions or topics at the top.

Further information
For further information visit the website.

You can also email: BSOLSTPDigital@uhb.nhs.uk.
 
If you require this information in an alternative format (e.g. braille, audio, easy read or your spoken language), please contact a member of our team on: BSOLSTPDigital@uhb.nhs.uk.

Closing date for responses: 4 January 2021

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