Why The Medical Records Trust Uses FHIR – and Why That Helps Information Flow Smoothly
How FHIR Standards Enable Consistent, Portable, and Patient-Controlled Health Records
Discover why The Medical Records Trust uses FHIR as its core data standard, how this aligns with NHS policy, and the practical benefits for patients, clinicians, and developers.
1. FHIR in a Nutshell
Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is the internationally recognised standard for structuring and exchanging health information. It organises data into small, well-defined “resources” (for example, Patient, Observation, or MedicationRequest) and moves them through secure web-based interfaces. NHS England has placed FHIR at the heart of its interoperability strategy because it shortens integration times and supports safer, more consistent care.
2. What NHS Policy Says
Information Standard DAPB4020 gives legal force to the use of UK FHIR Core R4 profiles whenever data is shared across health and adult social-care organisations in England.
All new national specifications and APIs published by NHS England are written in FHIR, ensuring that information can flow between systems with minimal conversion.
3. Why Exchange Is Still Challenging in Day-to-Day Practice
Many trusts and GP practices rely on large, proprietary electronic-patient-record systems. Each supplier stores data in its own database structure and often provides interfaces that differ from those of other vendors. These differences can slow down information-sharing and make routine tasks—such as moving a patient’s notes from hospital to GP—more complex than necessary. Subtle though it is, this situation can leave organisations feeling tied to a particular system, even when national standards such as FHIR are available.
4. How the Trust Addresses the Problem
The Medical Records Trust keeps every record exclusively in UK FHIR Core format. That single, consistent structure provides three clear benefits:
| Benefit | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Consistency | Clinical notes, laboratory results and referral letters are stored in one recognised format. |
| Controlled access | You—and the people you nominate—use a secure FHIR interface to view or share information; consent can be granted or withdrawn at any time. |
| Straightforward integration | A GP surgery or hospital can call the Trust’s FHIR endpoint with your NHS number and import the data directly into its own system, without bespoke conversion work. |
Because the Trust’s database already conforms to the same specification that NHS England expects, new connections can be established quickly and reliably.
5. What This Means for Patients, Clinicians and Developers
- Patients – Your information is held once, in a recognised format, ready to accompany you wherever you receive care.
- Clinicians – Authorised staff retrieve accurate, up-to-date details in seconds, reducing repetitive data entry.
- Developers and researchers – Services can be built against an open, well-documented standard rather than a patchwork of individual database formats.
Key Benefit: By mandating FHIR, The Medical Records Trust aligns with NHS policy and removes many of the practical barriers created by varied proprietary systems. The result is a record that is consistent, portable and—most importantly—under your control.