A London hospital has teamed up with Microsoft to launch the world's first electronic patient record in the field of mental health.

South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Foundation Trust said its MyHealthBox service would enable collaborative working between clinicians and patients and provide patients with secure access to their health records and the facility to contribute to them directly.

Mike Denis, director of information strategy at SLaM, said the venture was not just about giving people access to their health records.

“This approach will provide patients with information that gives them more control over their health and wellbeing. It will empower them to make informed decisions and provide meaningful input into their own care plans and treatment methods - which will ultimately lead to better patient care. 

MyHealthBox uses Microsoft's online HealthVault service and features a health journal that allows patients to track their symptoms, sleep patterns, behaviour and emotions.

"Patients engage in different ways with their clinicians and often express desire to be more involved in the treatment and services they receive," says Martin Baggaley, medical director at SLaM. "This is why we see Microsoft HealthVault as a valuable tool in helping us to move in the direction of considering and strengthening the patient-clinician relationship by working in partnership with patients to facilitate their recovery journeys."

Larger electronic patient record projects, notably those contained in the £11.4bn National Programme for IT in the NHS, have underwhelmed.

Last year the plans to give every patient in England an electronic care record by 2010 were severely criticised by the National Audit Office, which said the NHS might not have all the necessary systems in place by 2016.

The hope with MyHealthBox will be that by having a local, targeted service on a more manageable scale, SLaM can improve health outcomes.

Patients that choose to use it will have secure access to their care SLaM care plan, information stored by their GPs as well as the data the patients themselves contribute, which could include goals, observations on self-care and feedback on the care they receive.

"We are very excited to be taking a step closer to offering this facility to our service users. It may not be something every patient wants to sign up for, but soon the option will be there - and that's a leap forward for patient empowerment," concluded Mike Denis.

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