Sharing access to patients’ health data across NHS providers in England could cut A&E visits by 20,000 a year, the government has claimed ahead of the second reading of the NHS Modernisation Bill on Monday. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) projects that the introduction of a single patient record (SPR) for every person receiving health and social care in England would generate savings of more than £20 million annually, reduce hospital admissions by 6,000 a year, and free up around 500,000 hours of doctors’ time.
Savings and efficiency gains
The DHSC estimates that the combination of SPRs with virtual care would lead to approximately 10,000 fewer A&E attendances among frail patients, with another 10,000 fewer visits resulting from a reduction in misdiagnoses. The predicted 6,000 fewer hospital admissions each year are attributed to avoided A&E attendances, improved heart failure management, and better mental health care. Financial savings of over £20 million are expected to come from reducing medication errors, adverse drug reactions, and duplicate prescribing — inefficiencies that arise when clinicians lack a complete view of a patient’s medical history.
Doctors are expected to save around 500,000 hours annually because patient data will be readily available, cutting time spent searching for information and handling administrative tasks. The government’s 10‑year health plan, of which the SPR is a central component, aims to “reimagine” NHS care by shifting focus from hospitals to community settings, embracing digital technology, and prioritising prevention over treatment.
How the single patient record will work
The NHS Modernisation Bill sets out a legislative framework requiring all NHS providers — including hospitals and GPs — to securely share patient data. The SPR will give medical professionals access to a patient’s complete medical history without the individual having to repeat their issues unnecessarily. Social care records and data from private healthcare providers working on behalf of the NHS will also be incorporated. The change is intended to join up community services and help patients with long‑term conditions, rehabilitation needs, or frailty manage their care more effectively.
Patients will have more control over their care under the new system. The government says clear safeguards, audit trails, and choices about how data is used will be built in. Security and privacy are to be “baked in by design”, allowing anyone to see who has accessed an SPR, with existing clinical protocols governing what gets shared into the record. The DHSC has stressed that only specified people will be able to access the data, audit trails will show exactly who has viewed it, and strong cybersecurity protections will be in place. James Murray, the new health secretary who took the post after Wes Streeting resigned last month, said it was important the new system was “done in a way that people can have absolute trust in”. He told BBC Breakfast: “When people hear data, they think safety, they think data security. So when we’re building the system over the next couple of years, it will be crucial to have strict legal safeguards in place.”
At present, GPs act as data controllers for their patients’ records and can share them with third parties for research purposes. Under the proposed legislation, the DHSC is likely to become an additional data controller for GP records once they are shared into the SPR system. The bill also abolishes NHS England, transferring its functions to the DHSC to reduce bureaucracy, and gives effect to recommendations from the Dash review — including the abolition of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, whose functions will merge into the Care Quality Commission, and the abolition of Healthwatch England and Local Healthwatch, with their feedback‑gathering functions moving to the Secretary of State. The bill also supports devolution of decision‑making to a local level through integrated care boards (ICBs) and provider organisations, with ICBs expected to refocus as strategic commissioners and merge to reduce running costs.
Improved access to records is expected to begin in 2027, with initial priorities including maternity and frailty care. Separately, the virtual hospital model NHS Online is set to launch in 2027, providing planned specialist care through the NHS app and aiming to deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5 million appointments and assessments in its first three years.
Concerns over data control and security
The British Medical Association (BMA) has called for doctors to remain in control of GP data rather than the DHSC. The BMA’s GP committee has warned that any move to take control of data away from GPs would damage trust and risk confidentiality. GPs, it argues, must remain the data controllers to act in patients’ best interests, advocate for them in data‑sharing processes, maintain confidentiality, and ensure patient trust. The BMA has also expressed that it has not been involved in discussions about the SPR’s format, access, usage, or operational company, and remains concerned about the security of data flows and the availability of patient‑facing audit trails.
Campaign group medConfidential has warned that government control of SPR data could lead to politicians having greater influence over how medical records are used. In May 2026, the BMA urged GPs to withhold patient data outside their practices as part of collective action related to contract disputes, aiming to highlight the reliance on GP data and the importance of general practice in the wider health service. The government has emphasised that data will be protected under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, and that patients retain the right to opt out of their confidential information being used for purposes beyond their direct care through the National Data Opt‑out and Type 1 Opt‑out.
Wes Streeting, the former health secretary who resigned on 14 May citing a loss of confidence in the prime minister, is expected to tell the House of Commons on Monday: “Those who claim recent improvements in NHS performance are simply the result of more money are making exactly the same mistake that has held the NHS back for years. Investment matters, but we’re combining investment with reform: embracing technology, cutting bureaucracy, improving productivity and changing how care is delivered.”