Medical Records

Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average time taken for the medical records of patients who are discharged from hospital to care facilities to reach the general practitioners linked with the care homes was in the last period for which figures are available.

Caroline Flint
This information is not collected centrally. It is the responsibility of the practitioners concerned to ensure that the appropriate information is transferred in a timely and appropriate fashion on discharge from hospital. In general, medical records are not transferred but as the national health service care records service is rolled out nationally, all practitioners will have access to a shared summary record (subject to confidentiality and privacy safeguards).