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The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 15 May 2026.

Safer and faster care for patients as NHS set to introduce Single Patient Record and cut bureaucracy

• NHS Modernisation Bill will introduce two big changes – joining up health information and abolishing NHS England
• Single Patient Record will mean NHS staff can see a patient’s full medical history and patients won’t have to repeat their story unnecessarily
• Legislation will enable power and resources to be put in the hands of frontline NHS organisations by scrapping world’s largest quango

Patients will receive safer, quicker and more accurate healthcare thanks to new legislation marking the next step in the government’s modernisation agenda.

The NHS Modernisation Bill brought forward today [Thursday 14 May] will introduce the Single Patient Record, allowing fragmented health information to be joined up around the country, and will cut layers of bureaucracy so more time and money can be spent on frontline services.

The Single Patient Record will mean all NHS providers – including hospitals and GPs – will have to share data so the right doctors, nurses and specialists across England can securely see a patient’s full medical history – no matter where they are treated. Clinicians will benefit from improved access to records as early as 2027 for specialities including maternity and frailty care.

For patients, this means they won’t have to repeat their story unnecessarily. It will result in safer, more coordinated care, with clinicians having the full picture when and where it’s needed. It will support better care closer to home – joining up community services and helping people manage their conditions.

Patients will also have more control over their care and transparency, with clear safeguards, audit trails, and choice over how their data is used.

For clinicians it means no more working with missing information or having to check in multiple places to find the same data, while it will mean greater efficiency and fewer costly mistakes for the NHS as a whole.

The Bill will also formally transfer NHS England’s functions into DHSC and the wider system, ensuring the NHS is there for patients when they need it, a better place for staff to work and better value for taxpayers.

Health Minister, Karin Smyth said: 

The NHS Modernisation Bill paves the way for the Single Patient Record, enabling patients to have real control over their care through a single, secure and authoritative account of their data for the first time ever.

It will be a gamechanger that means NHS staff can see patients’ medical records, allowing them to deliver better care faster and more conveniently, and even saving lives.

We will also strip back bureaucracy by abolishing NHS England, empowering frontline staff as part of our 10 Year Health Plan.

Patient groups and organisations across the country have been calling for the kind of change the Single Patient Record will deliver for more than a decade with Dr Michael Cocker, consultant obstetrician at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, saying it will “set a new benchmark” for maternity care in the NHS. 

Currently women are required to go through their entire medical history in a first appointment with a midwife, which is reliant on memory and can create gaps in information as they move through their pregnancy. The Single Patient Record will stop this issue at source, meaning clinicians can “provide safe care and personalised care”, he said.

Dr Maurice Cohen, consultant geriatrician at North Middlesex Hospital and Clinical Director at the London Frailty Network, said the Single Patient Record would mean the NHS is “wrapping ourselves around the patient rather than the patient wrapping themselves around us”.

The Bill will enable information related to a patient’s health and care to be processed for the purposes of establishing and operating the Single Patient Record but will be robust to the threat of data breaches with public and healthcare professionals consulted throughout its design.

Dr Alec Price-Forbes, National Chief Clinical Information Officer at NHS England, said:

The Single Patient Record will revolutionise patient care – giving all health and care professionals across the country a detailed record of a patient’s care in one place.

For too long, patient information has been held in silos, leading to patients having to repeat their story multiple times in different care settings, creating the potential for duplication or gaps in understanding by those treating them – and understandable frustrations and a poor experience for patients.

The Single Patient Record will be available to all health and care staff in real time, meaning patients get higher quality, safer, joined-up and more personalised care.

Robust protections will be built in, including different levels of access to reflect different needs and clear audit trails – ensuring the public can trust that their data is always secure.

Alongside enabling the Single Patient Record, the Bill (formally called the Health Bill) will reduce bureaucracy by simplifying the NHS structure, including formally transferring NHS England’s functions into DHSC and out to the wider system. 

Local leaders have complained of “two centres”, creating confusion and inertia, and – most importantly – diluting democratic accountability for the NHS.

Abolishing NHS England will reduce duplication and free up resources to be reinvested in the frontline, with less time spent on administration, and more time focused on delivering care.

Alongside this, changes will be made to streamline and strengthen the patient safety landscape, embed patient voices at the heart of national and local decision making and empower Integrated Care Boards and Foundation Trusts to deliver for patients. 

These changes put patients back at the heart of our health system, with clarified roles for local leaders, and decision making devolved to a local level, so those who truly understand the needs of their communities are trusted to shape and integrate services more effectively. 

Jacob Lant, Chief Executive at National Voices, said: 

Creating a single patient record across the NHS could be a game changer for patient safety and experience. Done well, it should reduce the burden on people having to repeat their story, help clinicians access the information they need, and support patients to feel that the NHS knows who they are and what matters to them. 

This is a significant opportunity to make better use of existing patient data to support high-quality clinical research and improved service design. But any use of data beyond direct care must have clear safeguards, transparent rules on who can access information and why, and meaningful ways for people to exercise their rights.

It is therefore absolutely right that the creation of the single patient record is set out in the NHS Modernisation Bill, which means — unlike previous NHS data sharing plans — this move can be properly scrutinised by Parliament, providing the transparency and accountability needed to build public confidence and trust.

Dr Jeanette Dickson, Chair of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges said:  

The Bill finally delivers the possibility of a joined-up, comprehensive single patient record which will not only improve patient safety but also patient experience by enabling clinicians to access patients’ records, wherever the patient is. No more repeating the same story every time you go to a hospital or GP and no need to repeat tests because the doctor ‘can’t see’ the result.  

An added bonus is the positive impact on doctors working lives, as well as more rapid patient flow through the system. The Bill rightly tries to make new technologies work for patients, but we must be sure this does not increase health inequalities by further excluding those who are digitally impoverished.

The press release issued by the Department of Health and Social Care on 15 May 2026.

New Mental Health strategy will transform care in England and drive shift from crisis intervention to preventative care.

• Call for Evidence launched during Mental Health Awareness Week to seek evidence of best practice in communities
• Part of 10 Year Health Plan commitment to give mental health the attention it deserves

Frontline workers, clinicians and mental health experts are today [Friday 15 May] being invited to share their views on how to transform mental health care for children and adults in England, as the government launches a Call for Evidence to shape its once-in-a-generation cross-government Mental Health Strategy.

The strategy will drive a fundamental shift towards prevention – treating people earlier and faster, and supporting those with mental health conditions to live a full life and stay active in education, work, family life and their communities.

Demand for mental health services has risen rapidly, particularly among children and young people, who often face long waiting times for the care they need. Around one in five people are now affected by a common mental health condition.

Improving mental health care is a priority in the government’s manifesto and 10 Year Health Plan and the government has hit its target to hire 8,500 extra mental health workers three years ahead of schedule. This year, NHS mental health spending is forecast to reach a record £16.1 billion – a real-terms increase of around £140 million on last year.

On top of this, we are making £473 million available over the next four years for Mental Health Emergency Departments, Community-based Mental Health Centres and wider capital projects, accelerating the rollout of Mental Health Support Teams in schools and colleges and expanding community‑based support via Early Support and Young Futures Hubs.

 But despite record investment and significant workforce growth, the current system remains reactive, fragmented and inconsistent. Support varies based on postcode, and too often people only get help when they reach crisis point. The Mental Health strategy will address this by setting new direction for the mental health system so that it responds earlier and more proportionately.

Baroness Merron, Minister for Mental Health, said:

This government believes that mental health should be treated with the same seriousness as physical health, yet too many people across the country are struggling to get the support they need, when they need it.

Alongside record investment in mental health services and more mental health workers than ever in the NHS, this strategy will give mental health the attention it deserves and set us on a new direction -one that focuses on earlier help, faster access and a whole-system approach.

We want to hear from everyone with a stake in getting this right, including frontline clinicians, service providers, and people with lived experience of mental health conditions, so that we can build a system that truly works for everyone.

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive, Rethink Mental Illness UK, said:

We welcome this announcement as a significant step forward, particularly for people severely affected by mental illness who too often face the greatest barriers to support. Long waits for treatment, unsafe inpatient care and fragmented services remain a daily reality for many, and a long-term strategy creates the opportunity to change that.

What matters now is delivery. We need rapid improvements in access to timely, appropriate treatment, urgent action to ensure inpatient settings are safe and therapeutic, and support that is properly joined up across health, housing and community services. The social security system must also provide a fair and reliable foundation for people who are too unwell to work.

We stand ready to work with government to ensure this strategy delivers meaningful, measurable change for those who need it most.

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive at the Mental Health Foundation said:

This is a big moment for England’s mental health. For many years, we’ve been calling for a radical shift towards a cross-government approach with a focus on prevention, and we look forward to contributing to the plan’s success. 

Our nation’s mental health has gone downhill over recent decades due to things like the Covid-19 pandemic and the legacy of austerity. But change is possible, and we are pleased that the government is taking action.  

We will be advocating for the plan to be ambitious, evidence-led and with a real focus on those communities most at risk of poor mental health; and to address the social and economic factors that shape all our mental health.

The strategy will also look beyond clinical settings to consider the role of schools, workplaces, the voluntary sector and local government in promoting positive mental health, moving from a system that first and foremost seeks to diagnose patients, to one that asks what support people need to live better.

It will also respond to forthcoming recommendations from the independent review into mental health, ADHD and autism, chaired by eminent psychoanalyst and clinical psychologist Professor Peter Fonagy. The review is examining the drivers of increasing demand and how government, the health system and wider public services can meet that demand more fairly and effectively.

Autistic people and people with ADHD face a much higher risk of developing a mental health condition. The Strategy will reflect the mental health needs of these groups, while a dedicated cross-government autism strategy will also be developed and published in due course, and the government will engage with stakeholders to consider extending it to cover ADHD.

The Call for Evidence opens today and will remain open for eight weeks, closing on 10 July 2026.

Brian Dow, Chair, Head On, and Haroon Chowdry, Campaign Partner, Future Minds, two coalitions representing over 20 leading mental health organisations said:

This is a hugely important moment. Mental ill health affects millions of people and families across the UK, with as many as one in five young people facing poor mental health. A 10-year, cross-government strategy signals a shift that the mental health sector has been calling for, and rightly recognises that prevention, early intervention and crisis care must be part of a coherent whole.

75% of mental health problems are established by age 24. This strategy provides an opportunity to establish children and young people’s mental health as a national policy priority, reducing the treatment gap facing children and young people and ultimately bringing down mental health need by supporting children and young people earlier and better.   Our campaigns exist to raise mental health up the policy agenda, prioritise children’s mental health, and tackle the crisis head on. Together, we welcome this renewed focus from government and the opportunity to shape what that action looks like. To succeed, this must reach beyond the health system, addressing the social and economic conditions that shape mental health and delivering a genuinely joined-up plan across government.

James Harris, Director of Communications of Mental Health UK, said:

We strongly welcome the government’s commitment to a cross-government mental health strategy. Mental health is shaped at home, in schools, in workplaces and our communities, and policy must reflect this if we are to see lasting improvement.

The opportunity now is to ensure people have the tools, support and environments they need to maintain good mental health and get help early. That requires action across education, employment and public services, alongside sustained investment in evidence-based support. In particular, the strategy must help more people experiencing mental health problems to get into and stay in work, with employers properly supported to play their part.   A genuinely joined-up approach can make a real difference to people’s everyday lives.